The pace of average-wage growth in Poland's private sector decelerated sharply in September to 1.6 percent year-on-year, from 2.7 percent in August, the Central Statistical Office (GUS) announced on Tuesday. The average gross wage in Poland in September 2012 amounted to zł.3,640.84.

At the same time the number of those in employment fell 0.1 percent from August 2012. In year-on-year terms there was no change. Since the beginning of the year the number of employed has declined by 37,000, while it increased by 14,000 in the same period last year.

The last time the Polish labor market had such a weak Q3 was in 2002, wrote Puls Biznesu.

“The September data clearly indicate that the Polish economy is slowing down significantly. The situation on the job market affects domestic consumption,” said Maja Goettig, chief economist at KBC Securities.

“These data support expectations for rate cuts and [Wednesday's] data on production shall provide even more arguments for the easing of monetary policy. The Monetary Policy Council is very likely to cut rates by 25bps in November and by a total of 75bps until the end of Q1 2013,” Bank Zachodni WBK wrote in a report.

Poland A.M.