At the beginning of March, Minister Andrzej Domański boasted about data from the labor market in Poland compared to other countries. “According to the latest Eurostat data, the unemployment rate in Poland in January 2026 was 3.1 percent. “The lowest in the entire EU,” wrote Andrzej Domański, Minister of Finance and Economy, on social media.
See also: Poland has never been this low before. Andrzej Domański points to “hard data” on unemployment
At the same time, the Labor Market Index (WRP) increased by over 2 points in February 2026 – this is the largest increase since June 2025. Experts point to disturbing signals coming from the labor market and from companies planning group layoffs.
The unemployment rate, after seasonal adjustment, according to the Eurostat methodology, amounted to 3.1% in Poland in January, compared to 3.2%. in December – Eurostat reported. This is the lowest result in the EU. Level 3.1 percent Bulgaria also recorded this in January. The number of unemployed people in January amounted to 563,000. compared to 567 thousand in December.
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The European Statistical Office also detailed the issue of unemployment among young Poles. And in this respect, the data are not so optimistic: the unemployment rate among people under 25 in 2025 was 12.5%. This means an increase of over 1.5%. compared to the previous year. At that time, the result was 10.9%.
Unemployment of young Poles is growing – causes and Eurostat 2025 data
The current level of unemployment among young Poles places our country in 7th place among EU countries. Eurostat data indicate that unemployment in this group was 15% throughout the EU. This result was almost four times higher (by 300%) than in general, while the average in the EU was two and a half times higher (by 150%).
As Money.pl points out, the increase in the minimum wage may be to some extent responsible for this state of affairs. Hiring employees without experience may seem unprofitable for many employers.
See also: Hundreds of companies in Poland want to carry out group layoffs. Disturbing information
The increase in the minimum wage makes employers reluctant to employ people without experience. Additionally, many young people do not have qualifications that meet the needs of the labor market. Only 49 percent Poles aged 15-34 believe that their education matches the job they perform – this is one of the lowest results in the EU.
In the European Union, the rate of people with secondary or higher education who assess that their field of education meets the requirements of their job well or very well is on average 56.4%.
According to Dr. Marta Palczyńska from the Department of Economics of Education and Labor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Warsaw, whose opinion is quoted by Money.pl, our country is one of those with a high percentage of people who experience a mismatch between the chosen field of education and the work they perform on a daily basis.
