Poland's unemployment statistics artificially boosted

Polish president Lech Kaczynski criticised compatriots working in the UK for artificially raising Poland's unemployment statistics. Many of the estimated 1 million Poles living in the UK are still registered as unemployed in the home country.
Brief News:

Despite the recent economic boom and growing demand for skilled labour, Poland's unemployment rate poses a main challenge for the country. Yet, the mobility of Polish citizens, living and working particularly in the UK, is not reflected in the country's unemployment statistics scaling down. The current unemployment rate at a level of 15,2% (September 2006), also takes into account Poles who already work abroad but still enjoy unemployed status back in the home country.

Polish president Lech Kaczynski pointed at the problem during the meeting with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair on 7 November. While expressing gratitude for the opening-up of the UK job market for Poles following the 2004 enlargement, he expressed concern that those Poles artificially raise the country's unemployment rate.

He said: "These people are registered as unemployed in Poland, so they are living a fiction and raising unemployment figures in Poland while they are doing very nicely in the UK and their unemployment benefits should rightly be sent to London. This is something we would like to do without."

This 'statistical effect' is followed by financial benefits to which Poles working abroad are officially entitled, due to their unemployed status in Poland. The number of Poles settling in the UK is expected to fall following the country's current economic prosperity and ongoing attempts to prevent the 'brain drain' and an increasing shortage of skilled labour.
Source:euractiv.com