May 22 (Reuters) - Polish industrial output grew more than expected in April, data released on Wednesday showed, following a surprise slump in March, with analysts citing statistical and calendar effects and saying production was continuing its gradual recovery.

Poland's industrial production rose by 7.9% in April year-on-year, beating expectations of 5.9% growth and rebounding from a revised 5.6% drop in March, which had surprised analysts who expected a much shallower decline.

"The reading is slightly better than both our and market expectations, but what is most important is that in the last two months, production data has been characterised by very high variability, mainly due to statistical and calendar effects," ING Bank Slaski economist Adam Antoniak said.

He pointed to two fewer working days and earlier Easter holidays in March as opposed to two more working days in April as skewing the data.

"When we look at both months together, it looks like there is a continued slow but actual recovery in industry," Antoniak said.

"In terms of economic growth this year, we are still counting mainly on private consumption and here the recovery of disposable income, and this is what we base our optimism on."

Poland sees GDP growth of 3.1% in 2024, according to the government's long-term financial plan released in late April, largely in line with a 3% analyst forecast in a Reuters poll.

Preliminary data last week showed Poland's gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.4% quarter-on-quarter and by 1.9% year-on-year, the latter figure just above a Reuters forecast of 1.8% and the quickest gain since the end of 2022.

Meanwhile Polish corporate sector wages remained on a double-digit growth path, rising by 11.3% on the year in April, while employment eased by 0.4% in annual terms, other data released on Wednesday showed.

"The labor market continues to look quite good," Antoniak said, adding that April wage growth "is also an element that will support disposable income and, consequently, consumption in the coming quarters."

Producer prices continued to drop in April, falling by 8.6% on the year, according to Wednesday's release. (Reporting by Karol Badohal Editing by Christina Fincher)