Statistics Poland: labour market January–September 2026

Average employment

In the period of January–September 2026, the average employment in the enterprise sector1 amounted to 6,377.0 thousand and was 1.0% lower than in the corresponding period of the previous year (at that time, the scale of the decline was similar).

In September this year, the average employment in the enterprise sector1 stood at 6,360.4 thousand and was 0.8% lower than a year ago (in August this year and in September last year the decline was similar).

Employment in sections and divisions of the enterprise sector

In the period of January–September this year, a decrease in employment compared to the corresponding period of the previous year was recorded in most of the analyzed sections, including the deepest in mining and quarrying (by 6.3%). Employment was also lower than a year ago in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (by 1.7%), manufacturing (by 1.6%), construction (by 1.4%), transportation and storage (by 1.2%), real estate activities (by 1.0%), trade; repair of motor vehicles (by 0.6%), and in information and communication (by 0.1%). On the other hand, employment increased on an annual basis in water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (by 3.2%) and in accommodation and food service activities (by 2.1%).

Registered unemployment rate

At the end of September this year, 907.0 thousand unemployed persons were registered in labour offices, i.e. 0.3% less than in August this year, but 4.7% more than in September last year. The registered unemployment rate, similarly to the previous month, amounted to 5.8%, i.e. 0.2 percentage points more than in September last year.

Layoffs

In September this year, 47 establishments planned the layoff of 2.9 thousand employees. The scale of planned layoffs was smaller than a month ago, but larger than a year ago. At the end of September this year, 180 establishments declared their intention to lay off 24.9 thousand employees as part of group layoffs