Employers turned out in force at the state’s largest job fair Tuesday, looking to boost hiring to keep pace with the growing economy.

The 176 employers attending the Job Quest job fair included 16 that had never recruited at the event before, highlighting a continuing shift to a labor market that favors job seekers, said Beth Busch, Job Quest executive director.

The employer count was up from 171 at the previous job fair in May and 150 at the one before that in January. There were 3,500 job seekers at Tuesday’s job fair, unchanged from fairs in May and January.

"Employers had been kind of holding back and waiting to really hire until they thought that the economy was going to get better and stay better," Busch said. "I think people feel like it’s really back — that we’re really headed in the right direction and that it’s not going to fall out from under us.

"For a while the mentality on the job seeker’s side was just ‘I need a job.’ Now we’re back to seeing people at the job fair who are comfortable enough in the economy that they can look for a better job."

The job market, one of the last pieces of Hawaii’s economy to recover from the 2008-2009 recession, has been strengthening steadily for the past few years. The Hawaii unemployment rate dropped to 4.4 percent in August, its lowest level in five years.

Several businesses with booths at the job fair, including Island Air, Highway Inn, Ross, Lawson’s and H&M, were adding staff as part of expansion plans.

Island Air, purchased earlier this year by billionaire Larry Ellison, has been ramping up hiring as part of its transition to larger aircraft.

The airline is hiring in more than 25 job categories, including flight attendant, pilot, ramp agent and aircraft mechanic, said Sean Sullivan, vice president for human resources.

"You would be joining a growing company committed to safety, to customer service and to on-time travel," Sullivan said during a presentation to prospective employees.

Michelle White, 20, said she thought her background would be a good fit at Island Air.

"I’ve got lots of customer service experience," she said. "That’s one of my strong points. I’m very good with people."

Martin & MacArthur, a local manufacturer and retailer of koa wood products, was one of the companies at the job fair for the first time.

The company was one of the few in Hawaii that expanded during the recent economic downturn, said Savina Wendin, executive vice president for corporate development. The company now has 11 retail outlets on five islands.

For its retail operations, the company prefers job candidates with at least two years of experience in high-end sales with knowledge of Hawaii and its culture, Wendin said.