WARSAW: Poland's unemployment rate fell to a five-year low in October, underlining the strength of domestic demand in central and eastern Europe's largest economy.
The registered unemployment rate fell to 11.3 percent in October from 11.5 percent a month earlier, state statistics office data showed on Tuesday.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a rate of 11.4 percent.
The number of unemployed people fell by 37,100 in October compared to September. Deputy Labour Minister Jacek Mecina told Reuters he expected jobless figures for November to be around the same level. "It is visible that the economy is in need of employees," he said.
Poland cut interest rates to a record low last month to counter the deepest fall in consumer prices in more than three decades, driven mainly by lower energy and food prices.
But falling prices are leaving more money in the pockets of Poland's 38 million people, fuelling demand against a backdrop of relatively low debt and rising wages.
Helping to lower the jobless rate, US e-commerce giant Amazon officially opened its two logistics centres in Poland at the end of October.
Amazon has said its logistics centres will create 6,000 jobs by the end of 2015.
The data also showed retail sales rose by 2.3 percent in nominal terms last month compared to a 1.6 percent increase in September.
Adjusted for falling prices of consumer goods, retail sales accelerated to 3.7 percent, the fastest pace since May.
"It is clearly visible that private consumption, the driver of economic growth, is strong and should gather pace further in coming months," said Mateusz Sutowicz, an analyst at Millennium Bank. "The data support our forecasts of stable interest rates."
Poland's $508 billion economy grew by a higher-than-expected 3.3 percent year-on-year in the third quarter.
The statistics office will publish a breakdown of growth on Friday.
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