About 3,500 jobseekers turned out for Hawaii’s largest job fair today at the Neal Blaisdell Center hoping to land positions with the 150 employers on hand.

Although the job market has yet to return to pre-recession levels many companies are increasing hiring, said event organizer Beth Busch.

One of the firms with a large presence at the Job Quest job fair was Hawaii Pacific Health, which is looking to fill about 260 positions. Hawaii Pacific Health already has hired more than 70 workers from Hawaii Medical center who lost their jobs recently when HMC closed two hospitals on Oahu.

Walmart also had a large contingent of recruiters at the event. The Arkansas-based retailer is looking to hire 300 people for a new store in plans to open in Kapolei this spring.

The number of jobseekers was down from the 5,900 who attended the job fair a year ago. The number of employers was up from 135 a year ago.