Government optimistic that Spring will bring a fall in unemployment

According to the Labor Minister Jerzy Hausner, the February unemployment rate stood at 18.1%, which is 0.1% higher than in January. The unemployment figures for December 2001 and January 2002 took into account the introduction of stricter rules for those applying for an unemployment benefit from the new year. Hausner said that the level of unemployment may begin to go down soon, and believes a small fall could be recorded in March. The previous year did not bear testimony to this belief, when the unemployment rate rose by 0.2% in March reaching 16.1%. Iwona Pugacewicz-Kowalska, an analyst from Bank Pekao said, "The decrease of unemployment caused by seasonal jobs will only be felt at the earliest in April or May." (Zycie, p. 8) A.Z.