Poland's unemployment down to 11% in April

WARSAW, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Poland's unemployment rate in April fell to 11 percent from 11.2 percent in March, Labor Minister Jolanta Fedak said here on Friday.

"I hope that in the coming months unemployment will stabilize at around 11 percent. But the second half of the year could be worse," Fedak was quoted by Polish news agency PAP as saying.

In the country of 38 million people, the number of jobless people amounted to 1,721,000 people, down 2.1 percent or 27,800 people from March, according to the minister.

The European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and some economists expect Poland's economy to contract this year, though by less than most of its regional peers.