Average employment in Wrocław enterprises totalled 194,900 full-time equivalents in May 2026, virtually unchanged from April. Average gross pay fell by 2.9% month on month to PLN 9,904.47, while the registered unemployment rate remained at 2.5%. However, the number of registered unemployed people rose by 42.6% year on year to 10,268. The data come from the Statistical Office in Wrocław publication, “Statistics of Wrocław 5/2026”.
Employment and the structure of the enterprise sector
Average employment in Wrocław’s enterprise sector amounted to 194,900 full-time equivalents in May 2026 — 300 people, or 0.1%, fewer than in April 2026, but 1,200 people, or 0.6%, more than in May 2025.
Month on month, employment declined in real estate activities (by 0.7%), trade (by 0.5%) and industry (by 0.5%). Growth was recorded in arts, entertainment and recreation, as well as transportation and warehousing (0.5% each), and administrative and support service activities (by 0.3%).
Year on year, the strongest employment growth was recorded in construction (by 4.8%) and arts, entertainment and recreation (by 2.9%). Declines were concentrated in information and communication (by 4.3%) and professional, scientific and technical activities (by 2.0%).
Wages
Average monthly gross pay in the enterprise sector stood at PLN 9,904.47 in May 2026 — 2.9% lower than in April 2026, but 5.3% higher than in May 2025. The monthly decline was driven mainly by lower payments in arts, entertainment and recreation (down 11.3%), professional, scientific and technical activities (down 10.3%), and industry (down 8.8%).
Year on year, the strongest wage growth was recorded in information and communication (up 9.5%) and accommodation and food service activities (up 7.8%). The highest pay relative to the average for the enterprise sector was recorded in information and communication, at 64.1% above the average, while the lowest was in accommodation and food service activities, at 22.9% below the average.
Registered unemployment
At the end of May 2026, the number of registered unemployed people in Wrocław stood at 10,268 — up by 16 people, or 0.2%, from the end of April 2026 and by as many as 3,066 people, or 42.6%, from a year earlier. Women accounted for 4,937 people, or 48.1% of all unemployed people, unchanged from the previous month and compared with 47.1% a year earlier.
The registered unemployment rate was 2.5%, unchanged from April 2026 but clearly higher than a year earlier, when it stood at 1.8%. For comparison, the rate was 5.6% in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship and 5.9% nationwide.
In May 2026, labour offices received 1,086 job offers, representing 33.6% of all offers in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. In Wrocław, there were eight registered unemployed people per job offer, compared with nine a month earlier and 10 a year earlier — clearly below the regional average of 17 people.
Among newly registered unemployed people, 548 individuals, or 47.9%, registered for the first time. The share of people dismissed for reasons related to their workplace was 5.2%, compared with 6.4% a month earlier and as much as 15.3% a year earlier. A total of 1,129 people were removed from the register, including 675 who found work and 250 who lost unemployed status after failing to contact the labour office for at least 90 days. Some 8,662 people, or 84.4% of all registered unemployed people, were not entitled to unemployment benefits, compared with 81.7% a year earlier.
Since 1 June 2025, the Act on the Labour Market and Employment Services has been in force (Journal of Laws of 2025, item 620), changing the rules for the registration and recording of unemployed people and job offers. Some published data have been adjusted to the new statutory terminology, which may affect the comparability of current results with periods before June 2025.
Wrocław compared with other major cities
Wrocław stands out among the compared cities for having the lowest number of unemployed people per job offer and a high number of job offers submitted during the month. Its unemployment rate is higher than in Warsaw and Poznań, but lower than in Kraków, Gdańsk, Szczecin and Łódź.
| City | Unemployment rate (%) | Job offers in May | Unemployed people per job offer | Average employment (thousand) | Average gross pay (PLN) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrocław | 2.5 | 1,086 | 8 | 194.9 | 9,904.47 |
| Warsaw | 1.6 | 1,618 | 17 | 1,106.3 | 11,204.68 |
| Kraków | 2.8 | 1,037 | 7 | 243.9 | 11,469.00 |
| Poznań | 1.6 | 200 | 30 | 166.8 | 10,952.17 |
| Gdańsk | 3.3 | 883 | 11 | 120.9 | 11,040.40 |
| Szczecin | 4.2 | 264 | 24 | 57.2 | 9,595.30 |
| Łódź | 4.4 | 176 | 53 | 71.2 | 8,722.43 |
Data source: Statistics Poland (GUS), Statistical Office in Wrocław, “Statistics of Wrocław 5/2026”; data generated as at 24 June 2026. Own calculations based on GUS data.
