Analysts at government-affiliated economic think-tank the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) expect the country’s unemployment rate to increase slightly by the end of the year.

The Central Statistical Office (GUS) said on Wednesday that Poland’s unemployment rate had fallen in March by 0.1 percentage points month on month to stand at 5.4 percent.

PIE said in a comment on the GUS figures that: “An increase in the number of registered unemployed people will be a result of limited activity by enterprises in line with the economic slowdown.”

The institute’s economists added that the economic slowdown had a limited impact on employment in sectors less affected by the crisis.

“Weaker economic results in the first three quarters will, however, contribute to a reduction in new job offers,” PIE said. “In March, there were 97,000. That is 31 percent fewer than a year ago. Fewer available positions will weaken the pace of wage growth.”