There were more applicants than jobs to go around as thousands of prospective workers turned out yesterday for the Job Quest job fair in Honolulu.

Organizers said about 6,000 people attended the five-hour event at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center's Exhibition Hall, the most ever for a January job fair. Beth Busch, Job Quest executive director, estimated there were a little more than 2,000 positions available.

The big turnout had been expected because of Hawai'i's economic downturn in which thousands of jobs have been lost. Unemployment in November — the latest available figure — was at a nine-year high, while unemployment rolls surged by 73 percent to 32,650.

"There's a lot of people out of work," said T. Garcia, a 39-year-old Wai'anae resident, who spent yesterday morning talking with employers and dropping off resumes.

Garcia has been trying to get office or sales work since being laid off by a construction company nine months ago. She said she urgently needs a job because her unemployment benefits are running out and her family budget requires her to work.

"You can't live in Hawai'i with a one-income family."

Unfortunately for Garcia and other job hunters, the number of recruiters was down from prior job fairs as Macy's, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hawaiian Airlines and other hotels, airlines, restaurants and car dealerships stayed away. About 120 companies and organizations had booths at the event, roughly one-third less than a year earlier when there were 1 80.

Those who did turn out sometimes had job candidates standing five people deep or more at their booths. That included the U.S. Census Bureau, which needs to hire 600 people in coming months as it gears up for the 2010 census.

Marilyn Yoza, local Census Bureau office manager, said the effort will require as many as 1,000 temporary employees at its height activity over the next two years. Most of the people Yoza is hiring will work up to 40 hours a week for seven to 10 weeks verifying addresses. The pay ranges from $12.75 to $20 an hour.

"I'm really glad I can offer these jobs," said Yoza, noting the state's slumping economy. She is trying to amass a pool of 3,500 job candidates to hire from by mid-February.

Among other recruiters were healthcare companies, temporary help firms, Hawai'i's largest banks, the state of Hawai'i, the City and County of Honolulu and Target Corp. stores, which is continuing to take applications for two O'ahu stores that will be opening this year.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation also was on hand as part of a drive to hire 850 special agents nationally along with another 2,100 professional staff. The FBI booth attracted much attention, though it's still to be determined how many of the new hires will be based in Hawai'i.

Recruiters said one of the byproducts of the rising unemployment is more applicants who are better qualified than two years ago, when the state's jobless rate was under 3 percent and the lowest in nation.

Busch said the decline in the number of employers at this year's job fair was lower than expected. She said there was some uncertainty heading into the event about how many employers would sign up and that she wouldn't have been surprised if only 50 came.

But in recent days the numbers rose, with 15 companies signing up late.

"We knew we would be down but are surprised at how many are here," Busch said.

"In my mind there are more jobs out there than people think."

Hawai'i's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.9 percent in November compared to the national rate of 6.7 percent. But the low joblessness compared to the national average was little solace to Derek Tavui, a 30-year-old construction laborer who applied for jobs yesterday accompanied by his 2-year-old son.

"It's like nobody needs anyone anymore," said Tavui, who's been contemplating switching careers because of a decline in the construction industry.

The economy "was way up there. Now it's down."

"So it's hard for everybody, not only me."

The Job Quest Job Fair is held each January, May and September, and is sponsored by Oahu WorkLinks, ALTRES Staffing and Success Advertising.