Youth unemployment reaches 60 percent in Polish regions?

Figures released by the Central Statistical Office for Q3 in 2011 show that while the 15-34 age bracket remains the most prone to unemployment, in some regions the number of those without work reaches almost 60 percent.

The three most affected regions are Lublin – 57 percent, Malopolska – 56 percent, and Swietokrzyskie – 54 percent unemployment.

The figures come as unemployment at the end of January stood at 13.3 percent, a hike from December 2011’s numbers at 12.5 percent.

“This is the best and largest [labour] potential which goes unused,” Professor Mieczyslaw Kabaj from the Institute of Labour and Social Studies told the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

Kabaj adds that youth unemployment is highest where there are universities and third-tier educational establishments, as graduates become accustomed to the place in which they study. (jb)