Economic upturn is continuing as GDP rises and demand for goods increases

GDP has increased by 6% and the demand for goods is up by 5.1% in the first quarter of 2000 says the Central Statistical Office (GUS). "It can be clearly seen that the economic revival, which started in the second half of 1999, is still continuing," said GUS deputy-president Janusz Witkowski. "Among the European Union (EU) countries, the economic growth rate recorded in the first quarter of this year was only higher than Poland's in Ireland," said the director of the Government Center for Strategic Studies (RCSS). GUS also announced the unemployment rate fell from 13.7% to 13.5% in May. Gross value added increases were particularly good in the industrial sector, up by 10.1%, and in the service sector, up by 5.8%. (Prawo i Gospodarka, page 1, 2) M.M.