Poland's unemployment rate at 2.7 pct in June - Eurostat. Polish manufacturing index PMI falls to 43.5 points in July - S&P Global

Poland’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged month on month at 2.7 percent in June 2023, Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, reported on Tuesday.

The number of unemployed rose to 472,000 in June from 471,000 in May, Eurostat also said.

According to Eurostat, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the eurozone countries stood at 6.4 percent in June, unchanged from May.

According to Poland’s Central Statistical Office (GUS), Poland’s unemployment rate dropped 0.1 percentage points month on month in June 2023 and stood at 5.0 percent.

The discrepancy between GUS and Eurostat figures results from the use of different methodologies. Poland’s GUS reports on all unemployed people registered in labour offices, including those who are not currently looking for a job, while Eurostat only takes into account active job seekers.

Poland’s manufacturing sector purchasing managers’ index PMI fell to 43.5 points (pts) in July from 45.1 pts in June, a report by S&P Global has shown.

„Output, new orders, exports, employment and purchasing activity all decreased more quickly in July than in June amid widespread reports of demand weakness,” S&P Global said in a report on Tuesday.

Orders fell at the fastest pace in eight months, while export orders were down to the greatest extent since May 2020, when manufacturing was hit by the first wave of Covid-19 infections.

Output fell at the fastest pace since November last year. Despite falling production, backlogs of work declined amid slow order inflow.

Employment fell amid a general reluctance among firms to replace leavers given the declines in workloads, the researcher said.

The low demand contributed to further reduction of price pressure, „with both input costs and selling charges falling at the sharpest rates on record,” the report said.

The reading has been in the contraction territory for the past 15 months.

A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector while figures below 50 signal a contraction.

mk, PAP