| Annual (y\/y)<\/td> | 5.1% (May 2025)<\/td> | 5.9%<\/td> | +0.8 pp<\/td><\/tr>\n <\/tbody>\n <\/table>\n\n <\/span>Monthly perspective: seasonal relief<\/span><\/h2>\n The 0.1 percentage-point fall compared with April fits the typical seasonal pattern of the labour market. In spring, demand for workers rises in construction, agriculture, horticulture and tourism, which usually reduces registered unemployment after the winter peak. The May correction was modest, however: the rate remains close to 6%, clearly above the levels recorded in the corresponding months of the previous two years.<\/p>\n\n <\/span>Annual perspective: labour market looser than a year ago<\/span><\/h2>\n The annual difference is the more meaningful signal. The increase of 0.8 percentage points compared with May 2025 provides the clearest picture of the change in labour-market conditions, as comparing the same month eliminates seasonal fluctuations. The readings for 2025 and 2026 are based on a uniform methodology, following a revision resulting from the 2021 National Population and Housing Census, and are therefore fully comparable. The scale of the increase indicates that labour demand weakened over the year, while the number of people registering as unemployed is higher than twelve months earlier.<\/p>\n\n <\/span>Regional differences in May 2026<\/span><\/h2>\n With the national average at 5.9%, the gap between regions remained substantial. The lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Greater Poland at 3.7%, Mazovia at 4.5% and Silesia at 4.8%. At the other end of the scale were Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship at 9.4%, Subcarpathian Voivodeship at 9.1% and \u015awi\u0119tokrzyskie Voivodeship at 8.5%. The gap between the two extremes amounted to 5.7 percentage points.<\/p>\n\n \n <\/span>Registered unemployment rate by voivodeship \u2014 May 2026 (%)<\/span><\/h3>\n |