Unemployment going down in 1-3Q 2015
Główny Urząd Statystyczny (Central Statistical Office) has recently issued its publication on the condition of the Polish labour market, “Employment, wages, and salaries in national economy in I-III quarters of 2015”. The document presents the current numbers of the employed, juxtaposing the data with the information from 2014.
The publication is prepared based on mandatory surveys completed and handed in by employers. It contains such information as the structure of the employed, average salaries and wages by sector, or rates of unemployment by region.
Things seem to be going fine for Polish society, as basic data reveal a rather positive view of the recent developments in the labour market. The number of the employed rose by 1.0 percent in comparison with 2014. Most of the workforce, i.e. 65.3 percent, is employed in the private sector. Average employment rose by 0.8 percent.
Average gross wages and salaries are also going up. The number grew by 3.4 percent and reached 3,933 PLN. Public sector employees enjoyed average wages and salaries in the amount of 4415.01 PLN, while in the private sector the number amounted to 3,723.12 PLN. The growth was present in all economy sectors.
According to the data, in four Polish voivodeships the level of wages and salaries was above the national average. These are Mazowieckie (Mazovian), Dolnośląskie (Lower Silesian), Pomorskie (Pomeranian), and Śląskie (Silesian). The highest reimbursements are offered, as one may expect, in the central region, where Warsaw is located. Wages and salaries in the Mazovian voivodeship were over 20 percent higher than the national average.
Average wages and salaries have been successively on the rise for the last five years. What is more, as of 1 January 2016, the minimum pay in Poland rises by 5.7 percent or 100 PLN, from 1,750 PLN to 1,850 PLN (gross). This applies to a person employed on a full time basis. Some more changes concerning the labour market are on the way, as the Polish government revealed plans to introduce minimum hourly wage.
At the end of the third quarter of 2015, the number of the employed was increased by around 70 000 in comparison with the same period of 2014. The total number of the employed at the end of September 2015 was 8,664.6 thousand. The unemployment is slowly going down, as the number of registered persons without work was 94.9 percent of the last year’s value. The unemployment rate at the end of November 2015 was 9.7 percent.
