The labor market is recovering from Covid-19

According to the latest GUS data based on LFS, the situation in the Polish labor market looks better and better from the beginning of 2021. In the second quarter, the unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent, and the number of unemployed fell by 11.8 percent. There have also been fewer layoffs and business stagnation due to the pandemic. Despite the improving epidemiological situation, there is still a high percentage of people working remotely, which, according to Personnel Service experts, indicates that home office, as one of the effects of the pandemic, will not disappear over the next few years.

In the second quarter of this year, according to the LFS data, 16.59 million people worked in Poland. That's about 164,000 (1 percent) more than in the previous quarter. Employment in this period found 131,000 women and 33,000 men. 15.54 million people worked full-time, while 1.05 million worked part-time. Compared to the first quarter of 2021, the number of full-time employees increased by 193,000 (1.3 percent). 

According to the LFS methodology, the unemployment rate in the second quarter of this year. was 3.5 percent. The unemployment intensity decreased by 0.5 pp compared to the first quarter of 2021. During this period, there were 606,000 people unemployed, i.e. 11.8 percent less than in the first quarter of this year.

Unemployment affects young people (aged 15-24) the most, for whom the unemployment rate was 13.3 percent. In terms of the level of education, the highest unemployment rate was observed in people with lower secondary, primary, incomplete primary education, and no school education (7.8 percent).

"The results of the unemployment rate so diversified in terms of age and education should not come as a surprise. The situation in the labor market of young and poorly educated people has been difficult for a long time, and the pandemic has only strengthened this trend. It is reassuring that many of these people have found employment recently when the situation on the labor market began to stabilize. The unemployment rate fell the most in the group most exposed to it, i.e. people with and without primary education – by as much as 2.7 pp. on a quarterly basis," Krzysztof Inglot, President of the Management Board of Personnel Service, noted.

(WBJ)