Poland ranks second among EU countries with the lowest unemployment

Unemployment – 3 key terms you should know

Unemployed persons, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO), are defined as those who fulfill all of the below conditions:

• Are 15 to 74 years old,
• Are without employment,
• Are available to start work within the next two weeks,
• And, most importantly, who at some point during the previous month have actively sought employment.

The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed presented as a percentage of the total labor force available.

The labor force is the total number of people employed plus those unemployed.

Unemployment in Europe

According to Eurostat data from February 2024, the unemployment rate was:

• 6% – in the European Union (EU27, so all the 27 Member States), estimating the number of unemployed people as 13.25 million
• 6.4% – in the euro area (EA20: the 20 Member States that adopted the euro as their common currency), indicating 11.1 million unemployed

Where is the highest and the lowest unemployment rate in Europe?

With an unemployment rate of 2.9%, Poland ranked second in the European Union in terms of low unemployment. The Czech Republic ranked first with an unemployment rate of 2.6%, and Slovenia came in third with an unemployment rate of 3.1%.

The highest unemployment rates were recorded in Spain (11.7%), Greece (9.2%) and Sweden (8%).

Poland ranks second

It is worth mentioning, nonetheless, that while the unemployment rate in Poland is meager, compared to February 2023 there has been an increase of about 43,000 from 474,000 unemployed people.

According to the GUS (pl. Główny Urząd Statystyczny à eng, Central Statistics Office) data relating to February 2024, the number of unemployed registered in labor centers amounted in Poland to 845,3 thousand people and resulted in an unemployment rate of 5.4%.

Sources:

Eurostat – Euro area unemployment at 6.4%

Eurostat – Glossary: Euro area enlargements

GUS – Bezrobotni zarejestrowani i stopa bezrobocia. Stan w końcu lutego 2024 r.