A four-year quarter-by-quarter decline in the number of open positions advertised by potential employers has finally come to an end.The south of Finland saw the biggest increase in open job positions during quarter two of 2026. File photo. Image: Vilja Sirviö / LehtikuvaYle News10:23There are faint signs that Finland's beleaguered job market could be on the cusp of a recovery following years in the doldrums.Statistics Finland reported on Thursday morning that there were 29,600 open job vacancies in the second quarter of 2026, a 2 percent increase on the same period last year.Although the incline may seem insignificant, it marked the first time since 2022 that the number of open vacancies in the country has risen on a year-by-year quarterly comparison.However, Statistics Finland's Senior Statistician Matti Lahdenmäki watered down talk of a turnaround in the Finnish job market."Because the growth in the number of open job positions is so small, it may be due to statistical inaccuracy. Still, it is already significant that the long-term decline appears to have stopped," Lahdenmäki wrote in an agency press release.The data-crunching outfit's report found that the construction sector saw the largest change in the number of open positions, with potential employers posting 1,400 more openings compared to Q2 of 2025."Although there were now more job positions available in the construction sector than last year, the figure still remained the second lowest since 2014 when comparing the situation in second quarters," Lahdenmäki noted.On a regional basis, the south of Finland saw the biggest increase in open job positions during Q2, while eastern and northern regions stayed at about the same level as last year, or even decreased slightly.