Finland last saw year-on-year jobs growth four years ago.In the first quarter, there were 48,600 open positions, marking a 15 percent drop from the same time a year earlier. Image: Henrietta Hassinen / YleSTT11:55Job vacancies continued to decline in the early part of this year, according to data released by Statistics Finland on Thursday.In the first quarter, there were 48,600 open positions, marking a 15 percent drop from the same time a year earlier.The development is not new, however. The downward trend has persisted for several years, as the last time the number of vacancies rose year-on-year was in 2022.The decline was most pronounced in the private sector, but proportionally, the steepest fall was seen in central government vacancies, which nearly halved compared with the previous year.Around a quarter of all vacancies were still considered difficult to fill by employers, slightly fewer than a year earlier.Meanwhile, 51 percent of available jobs were temporary and 20 percent part-time.