Unemployment spiral slows in December

Photo: Glowimages

According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Labour, over 2.15 million Poles were registered as unemployed last month, marking a 0.5 percent rise since November.

Nevertheless, Minister of Labour Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz has noted that the figures are better than analysts had predicted a year ago, when forecasts had been made for as high as 14-15 percent.

Many jobs are seasonal in Poland and last month's percentage rise represented the smallest for December since 2008, with the level of 13.4 percent matching that of December 2012.

Kosiniak-Kamysz said that any level of unemployment that is in double figues is “a big problem,” but that “this is the first time since 2007 when we have had unemployment at the end of the year being the same as in the previous year.”

“And this is undoubtedly a good thing, because one can see that that the upward trend has stopped,” he insisted. (nh)

Source: PAP