Poland had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the European Union prior to the outbreak of the epidemic. The COVID-19-induced crisis has thrown the economy into disarray, but according to Eurostat, unemployment in the country is close to pre-pandemic levels.

According to Eurostat data released recently, Poland had the lowest unemployment rate (3.1%) among all European Union countries in the first two months of 2021. With unemployment rates of 3.2 and 3.6 percent, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands came in second and third in the table, respectively. Greece (16.2%) and Spain (16.2%) have the highest unemployment rates in the EU (16%).

In February 2021, almost 16 million men and women residing in the EU were anticipated to be unemployed, accounting for 7.5 percent of the EU labor force (up from 6.5% in February 2020). When compared to the same period the previous year, Poland's unemployment rate stayed constant.

Nevertheless, a closer examination of the numbers reveals that the pandemic has disproportionately affected young people, with the jobless rate for persons under 25 in Poland reaching 9.6% in 2020. It has risen by more than 5 percentage points this year, reaching 14.8 percent. The young unemployment rate in the EU was 17.2% in February 2021, according to Eurostat. Germany (6.1%) had the lowest number of jobless adults aged 18-25, while Spain (39.6%) and Italy (39.6%) had the most (31.6 per cent).