Decrease in unemployment boosts economy

According to the Central Statistical Office (GUS), retail sales have retained dynamic growth, which amounted to 10.7% yoy in June. This is slightly lower than expected. "This is good data. The slowdown may be due to the smaller number of working days in June this year", commented Maciej Reluga, chief economist with Bank Zachodni WBK. According to Jacek Wiśniewski, chief economist with Raiffeisen Bank, the good results are due to the improvement of the labor market situation. The Central Statistical Office's data shows that at the end of June the number of the unemployed was below 2.5 million and was 95,400 lower than in May. It means that the unemployment rate decreased to 16% in June. According to estimates from the Ministry of Labor, unemployment should remain at this level over next several months. "We do not envisage any significant changes until October. Unemployment always increases in October and we take this into account", stated Anna Kalata, Minister of Labor. The ministry estimates that at the end of the year the unemployment rate will not exceed 16.2%. (Puls Biznesu, p.6) E.B.