The data was worse than the market had expected, with economists predicting unemployment would come in at 12.8 percent. The rise was mostly due to seasonal changes, as construction firms wind down their activity in the winter. Nevertheless, to put the figure in perspective, in November 2011 Poland’s unemployment rate reached just 12.1 percent, while two years ago it was at 11.7 percent.

Economists at BZ WBK said the data showed that the “negative tendencies on the Polish labor market are intensified” and that “the bottom of economic cycle is still ahead.” “It is worth emphasizing that this strong increase in unemployment took place despite intervention by the Labor Ministry, which used additional resources from the labor fund in the September-November period,” they added. “In our opinion without this intervention the registered unemployment rate would have increased towards 13.5 percent.”

GUS announced that labor offices had recorded 2,058,100 registered unemployed by the end of November. The voivodships that saw the most significant increase in unemployed registrations were Lubuskie, Wielkopolskie, Lower Silesia, Małopolskie, and Warmińsko-Mazurskie.

The highest unemployment rates were recorded in the northwestern voivodships of Warmińsko-Mazurskie (20.4 percent) and Zachodniopomorskie (17.4 percent). The voivodships that recorded the lowest unemployment rate were Wielkopolskie (9.5 percent) and Mazowieckie (10.5 percent).

GUS also announced that a total of over 49,000 new workplaces were created last month, 18,400 fewer than in October. According to the monthly report, 553 Polish employers announced employment reduction plans, expected to impact 38,600 people.

Marta Mardosz