Jobless rate increases in Poland

Poland's unemployment rate hit a post-communist high in January, rising form 18.1 to 18.7 per cent the previous month, the government said yesterday. The Central Statistical Office said the number of unemployed grew by nearly 104,000 people in January, exceeding 3.3 million. The increase is mainly down to seasonal factors, said Janusz Witkowski, the agency's head, but added that Poland's economy was still too weak to create enough new jobs to reverse the trend. The economy, the largest among eastern European countries hoping to join the EU in 2004, expanded only about one per cent in each of the last two years, down from 4.1pc in 2000. The government is hoping for 3.5pc growth this year and hopes joining the EU will give it a further boost.