According to preliminary data, at the end of January 2024, there were 837.7 thousand unemployed individuals registered in labour offices. Compared to the previous month, the number of unemployed increased by 49,500 individuals, or 6.3%. There were 19.8 thousand fewer unemployed people in the unemployment registers at the end of January 2024 compared to a year earlier (i.e. by 2,3%).

Growth is cyclical

The registered unemployment rate in January 2024 increased by 0.3 percentage points on a monthly basis. Such increases at the beginning of the year also occurred in previous years and amounted to 0.3 percentage points in 2023, 0.1 percentage points in 2022, 0.2 percentage points in 2021 and 0.3 percentage points in 2020.

The increase in the unemployment rate at the beginning of the year is cyclical. The increase can be attributed to the cessation or reduction of work activity in industries strongly linked to weather conditions, such as agriculture, fruit growing, construction, tourism, event organization, etc. In these segments of the economy, maintaining full employment throughout the year is not feasible. Workers who take up jobs in these sectors during the warmer months, when opportunities are abundant, are aware that there may be a shortage of orders during the winter, with work opportunities reappearing in the spring. As is the case every year, the labour market is anticipated to recover in the spring, prompting the demand for seasonal workers to begin.

More vacancies

Among the primary known reasons for registering unemployed individuals at the labour offices in January 2024 are termination of employment due to the expiration of contract period, termination of the contract under mutual agreement, and termination of the contract by either the employer or employee. Those registering most frequently prior to registration were working in the following sectors: wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, including motorbikes (15.1% of the inflow), manufacturing (13.9%), and construction (9.0%). The registrations primarily involved people without a profession (14.7% of the inflow), salespeople (8.2%), cooks (2.4%), followed by hairdressers, construction assistants, locksmiths, tradespeople, motor vehicle mechanics, warehouse workers, economic technicians, carpenters, bricklayers, and tailors. The most common reasons for the deregistration of the unemployed from the labour offices' records in the month in question included: taking up a job, failing to appear at the labour office at the appointed time, submitting an application, and commencing participation in activation activities (most frequently traineeships).

In January 2024 according to preliminary data, employers reported 96.4 thousand job vacancies and occupational activation places to labour offices, i.e. by 28.4 thousand (41.8%) more than the month before and by 4,5 thousand (4.9%) more than in January 2023. In January 2024, the largest number of job offers reported to labour offices were for production workers (5.6% of offers), other simple industrial workers (4.5%), domestic workers (4.1%), unclassified simple industrial workers (3.4%), warehouse workers, manual packers, auxiliary field workers, auxiliary industrial workers, warehousemen, office workers, and other police officers.

Eurostat data

Poland continues to maintain its status as a country with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the European Union. Our country ranks second among EU countries in this respect (after Malta). According to data published on February 1st, 2024, the unemployment rate in December 2023, calculated according to the definition adopted by Eurostat, stood at 2.7% in Poland, compared to 5.9% in the European Union and 6.4% in the eurozone.