More jobs, slowly but surely

At the end of December 2005 there were 2.77 million people registered at unemployment offices in Poland, helping to make up an unemployment rate of 17.6 percent, according to a report on the economic and social situation in Poland compiled by the Central Statistical Office (GUS). This signals a 1.4-percent decrease in comparison to the end of 2004, when over 226,000 more people were without jobs and the number of registered unemployed was just under three million.

The positive trend is that a fall in unemployment occurred in all voivodships. The fall was most visible in Lubuskie voivodship, where the unemployment rate decreased by 2.3 percentage points in comparison to the end of 2004. All three voivodships on the western border experienced the biggest decrease in unemployment, while the fall in the eastern provinces was much slower.

Despite the positive trend, unemployment still remains high in the western regions. In Lubuskie the rate is 23.3 percent and in Zachodniopomorskie it is even higher at 25.6 percent. Warmińsko-Mazurskie tops the unemployment ranking with 27.5 percent of those eligible to work without jobs. Unemployment is lowest in Małopolskie and Mazowieckie voivodships (13.8 percent each) and in Wielkopolskie where it stands at 14.6 percent.

The report shows that unemployment affects mainly young people in Poland, as 50.7 percent of the unemployed are 34 years old or younger.