Poland's jobless rate rises to 13.2 pct in January

The Central Statistical Office said that 2.12 million people were registered as unemployed at the end of January.

The office did not immediately give the reasons for the rise, but winter is usually a time when seasonal jobs in sectors such as construction, agriculture, forestry and tourism run dry.

Head of the office, Janusz Witkowski, said the jobless figure has not yet reached its peak and that February is "also going to be difficult."

Labor Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has told the PAO agency that he is expecting February to have the highest unemployment rate this year.

Poland's economy has so far withstood the global crisis and it grew by 4.3 percent in 2011. However a slowdown to under 3 percent is expected this year.

Poland has had high unemployment since the adoption of a market economy in 1990.