These are preliminary data for now, but later data published by the Central Statistical Office usually do not differ significantly. Based on information from labor offices, the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy published the latest unemployment statistics for January.
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They show that the unemployment rate in the first month of 2026 increased by as much as 0.3 percentage points. This is a similar increase that occurred in January of the previous three years, i.e. it is a seasonal phenomenon. But at the same time, unemployment has not increased faster since January 2022.
According to preliminary data the unemployment rate was 6.0 percent. compared to 5.7 percent a month earlier – the Ministry of Labor announced on Monday.
Year to year, this means an increase of 0.6 percentage points. and we have been maintaining this unfavorable pace since September 2025. We are now entering the employer's market from the employee's market, which means that it is the employer who begins to choose from the offers of potential employees, and not the employee from the offers of potential employers.
47 thousand more unemployed in a month
At the end of January 2026, there were 934.8 thousand registered in labor offices. people – by 47 thousand more than a month earlier (+5.3% m/m) and by 97.2 thousand more (11.6%) y/y
However, there were not many offers waiting for the newly unemployed. In January employers reported 25.4 thousand vacancies and places of professional activation. This is true by 4.7 thousand, or 22.4 percent. more than a month earlier, but at the same time by 63.1 thousand (-71.3%) less than a year earlier.
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The largest number of job offers reported to labor offices in January 2026 (over 500) were intended for office workers, salespeople, construction and farm workers, production workers, cleaning workers, warehouse workers and Border Guard officers.
The greatest growth in Silesia
In absolute terms, the highest number of unemployed people compared to the previous month arrived in the province Silesia (increase by 5.3 thousand people)Mazowieckie (an increase by 4.5 thousand) and Greater Poland (an increase by 3.8 thousand people). The number of unemployed people has not decreased in any voivodeship.
The registered unemployment rate at the end of January 2026 ranged from 3.8%. in the Greater Poland Voivodeship to 9.9 percent in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. The lowest unemployment rate was recorded in Poznań County (1.3%), Poznań (1.4%) and Warsaw (1.5%).
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The main reasons given by the unemployed for terminating employment contracts in January 2026 are: termination of work due to the expiry of the period for which the contract was concluded and termination of the contract by mutual consent of the parties.
However, the most common reasons given by the unemployed for registering at the employment office were: obtaining health insurance (this reason was indicated by 40.9% of the unemployed) and obtaining help in taking up work (38.7%).
Sections where the most unemployed people worked before registration in January 2026: wholesale and retail trade (14.0% inflow)industrial processing (13.3%) and construction (8.3%).
Professions with the most (over 1.0 thousand) unemployed people registered in January 2026: salesperson (8.2 percent inflow), cook (2.5 percent), hairdresser (1.8 percent), warehouse worker (1.7 percent), locksmith (1.6 percent), motor vehicle mechanic (1.6 percent), auxiliary construction worker (1.5 percent), farm worker (1.4 percent), economic technician (1.3%), production worker (1.2%), carpenter (1.1%), bricklayer and tailor (0.9% each) and office worker (0.8%).
370 poviats are in the red
Registered unemployment rate, according to estimates, m/m in January increased in 370 counties in the countryand in 10 poviats it remained at the same level as the month before. No decrease in the unemployment rate was recorded in any of the counties.
The most common reasons for deregistration of the unemployed from the labor office register in January 2026 were taking up a job, changing their place of residence outside the PUP area and lack of contact with the PUP at least once every 90 days.
The number of people registered as unemployed in January increased for the eighth month in a row, which, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, was influenced by various factors, including:
- seasonal fluctuations in the economy – January is usually the month when the number of unemployed people increases, one of the reasons is the seasonality of work in some sectors, as well as the expiry of fixed-term contracts often concluded by the end of the calendar year;
- a decrease in the number of unemployed people starting activation programs – in January, usually fewer people than in other months start active forms of support such as internships, training or intervention work, which is related to the cycle of organizing these programs. The number of activated unemployed people this year is also influenced by the limitation of funds from the Labor Fund to finance activation activities. We estimate that in January 2026 approximately 3.0 thousand unemployed people started activation programs, which is almost half as many as in January 2025;
- decreased recruitment activity of companies in recent months: according to data from the Element recruitment system for Grant Thornton, in December 2025, employers on the 50 largest recruitment portals in Poland published 189,000 new job advertisements – a decrease of 6%. y/y (i.e. by 11.6 thousand). The number of vacancies and vocational activation places reported to labor offices also decreased despite the fact that the new Act on the labor market and employment services, which entered into force on June 1, 2025, introduced the obligation to report vacancies and vocational activation places also by public sector employers performing public tasks or having public funds at their disposal;
- a slightly larger scale of group layoffs – in 2025, 29,500 group layoffs were made. employees, i.e. by approx. 9%. more than in 2024;
- legal changes introduced by the Act of March 20, 2025 on the labor market and employment services, making it easier for unemployed people to acquire and maintain the unemployed status (an unemployed person no longer loses the unemployed status when he or she refuses to accept a job offer).
According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, economic growth forecasts in Poland for 2026 remain favorable, which should contribute to improving the situation on the labor market.
“We should hope that spring – as in previous years – will bring a reversal of the unfavorable upward trend in unemployment along with a revival in construction and services and a greater number of new recruitments. At the same time, a significant reduction in financing from the Labor Fund for activation programs may contribute to the continuation of the rising level of unemployment,” it added.
