Shy Signals of Cooling Labor Market, Job Ads Stagnate

Despite the continued decline in unemployment, the labor market has begun to show the first signs of weakening advertised demand for workers on online job boards, although official data from the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) still indicate a slight increase in the sought labor force.

According to data provided to Lider by HZZ, in February 2026, 20,776 workers were sought, which is an increase compared to the same month last year by 2.7 percent, and a decrease of 15.2 percent compared to February 2024. Meanwhile, unemployment decreased by 12.8 percent compared to the same month in 2025, while it fell by as much as 27.9 percent compared to February 2024.

In other words, the official labor exchange in February sought slightly more workers than in the same month last year, but compared to February 2024, when unemployment was significantly higher, that number is noticeably lower. HZZ does not yet have fully analyzed data for March, which will be published in their regular periodical in the first half of April.

MojPosao.hr: Number of ads falls for the third consecutive month

On the portal MojPosao.hr, however, data for March indicate a slight decrease in demand for employees. Specifically, according to data from that portal, in January, 4,061 job ads were published on their pages, in February 4,026, while in March, without data for the last day of the month, 4,021 ads were published.

Moreover, in March of last year, 10 percent more ads were published on that portal than in the same month this year, and in the same month in 2024, 15 percent more. The engagement of foreign workers through specialized agencies, they warned from that portal, is not fully reflected in standard advertising channels, which affects the statistics.

Geopolitical Uncertainty, AI, and Automation Change Demand

In addition, they offered an explanation for the decline in the number of job ads.

– Uncertain geopolitical and economic situations at the global level may prompt employers to plan more cautiously and delay new hiring. Additionally, the increasing application of technology and automation, including tools based on artificial intelligence, may reduce the need for new hiring or change the structure of sought personnel in certain sectors, they stated for Lider from the MojPosao portal.

February 2026: Slight Increase in Sought Labor Force Compared to January

Regardless of the slight tightening of job offers for February compared to the situation two years ago, HZZ emphasized that in February 2026, a 0.2 percent increase in demand was recorded compared to January. They also warned that at the end of February 2026, there were 83,992 unemployed persons recorded, which is 4.5 percent less than in January when they recorded 87,935 unemployed.

Currently, in Croatia, according to daily data from the HZZ website, there are 75,077 unemployed persons recorded, and HZZ further emphasized that around 21 thousand workers are currently sought. This indicates stability and a slight increase in demand, alongside a slight cooling of advertised demand on commercial portals.