Poland’s registered unemployment rate remained at 5.8% at the end of August 2026, but the number of people registered as unemployed increased for a second consecutive month, according to final data from Statistics Poland (GUS).
There were 909,500 people registered as unemployed at the end of August, compared with 906,400 in July — an increase of around 3,100 people, or 0.3%.
Compared with a year earlier, the change is more pronounced. Poland had 856,300 registered unemployed in August 2025 and a registered unemployment rate of 5.5%. The August 2026 total was therefore around 53,200 higher, an increase of approximately 6.2% year-on-year, while the unemployment rate was 0.3 percentage points higher.
The final 5.8% reading was nevertheless slightly better than the government’s preliminary estimate. The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy had estimated earlier in September that registered unemployment would reach 5.9%.
Why the unemployment rate can stay unchanged while the number rises
The apparent difference between the stable 5.8% rate and the increase in the number of registered unemployed comes from the way the measure is calculated.
GUS defines the registered unemployment rate as the number of registered unemployed as a share of Poland’s economically active civilian population. The rate therefore depends on both the number registered as unemployed and the size of that labour-force denominator. It is also published to one decimal place.
A relatively small increase of 3,100 registered unemployed is consequently not necessarily enough to change the published rate from one month to the next.
The final data also do not indicate a sudden surge in people entering the unemployment register. Some 87,600 people newly registered as unemployed during August, down from 99,700 in July.
August was the third consecutive month in which the registered unemployment rate stood at 5.8%, after falling from 5.9% in May.
Employment at larger companies continues to fall
A separate GUS measure provides another perspective on labour demand.
Average paid employment in Poland’s enterprise sector fell 0.2% in August compared with July and was 0.8% lower than in August 2025.
That does not mean employment across the entire Polish economy fell by 0.8%.
The enterprise-sector indicator principally covers businesses employing more than nine people in specified areas of the economy and measures employment after converting part-time work into full-time equivalents. It therefore provides a useful monthly indication of conditions in a large part of the corporate economy but is not a measure of every person working in Poland.
For employers and investors, the combination is worth noting: registered unemployment is no longer rising month-to-month as a percentage, but payroll employment among the businesses covered by the enterprise-sector survey remains below its level a year earlier.
Wage growth continues, but at a slower pace
Pay is sending a somewhat different signal.
Average monthly gross wages in the enterprise sector reached PLN 9,259.54 in August — approximately $2,410 or €2,120 using the National Bank of Poland’s 25 September average exchange rates.
That was 5.6% higher in nominal terms than a year earlier, although wages fell 2.6% from July. GUS reported that real enterprise-sector wages, after taking price changes into account, were 2.0% higher year-on-year.
Annual nominal wage growth also slowed from 6.8% in July to 5.6% in August.
That leaves employers facing continued wage growth even as employment numbers in the enterprise sector remain weaker than a year ago.
Registered unemployment is not the same as survey unemployment
International readers should also distinguish Poland’s 5.8% registered unemployment rate from unemployment figures based on the Labour Force Survey, known in Poland as BAEL.
Registered unemployment counts people formally registered with local labour offices and relates that number to the economically active civilian population. The Labour Force Survey instead classifies people according to their actual labour-market status under harmonised statistical criteria, regardless of whether they have registered at a labour office.
According to GUS, Poland’s BAEL unemployment rate was 3.2% in the second quarter of 2026, up 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier. The survey counted 574,000 unemployed people under its criteria.
Eurostat’s seasonally adjusted, internationally comparable measure put Poland’s unemployment rate at 3.4% in July 2026, compared with 6.1% across the EU. Eurostat’s official August unemployment release is scheduled for 1 October.
The registered and survey-based rates are therefore not competing estimates of exactly the same population. They measure unemployment differently and should not be used interchangeably.
What the August figures show
For businesses assessing hiring conditions in Poland, the August figures present a mixed rather than dramatic picture.
The registered unemployment rate has stabilised at 5.8%, and the number of new registrations fell substantially from July. But the number already on unemployment registers remains higher than both a month and a year earlier, while average paid employment in the enterprise sector continues to run below its 2025 level.
At the same time, wages are still rising faster than prices, meaning weaker employment indicators have not translated into an economy-wide reversal in wage growth.
The next internationally comparable unemployment figures will come from Eurostat on 1 October, while Poland’s September registered-unemployment data will provide the next test of whether the recent 5.8% plateau is continuing.
