Hawai'i's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August fell to its lowest point in at least 10 years — 2.6 percent — as the state welcomed a record number of visitors and continued to enjoy a construction and real estate boom.

The low unemployment figures represent good news for job hunters but put even more pressure on Island employers looking for workers in one of the tightest job markets in the nation.

Employers such as Jiffy Lube continue to scramble to find good workers, even as many potential candidates return to school in the fall.

Myles Tsukamoto, general manager for five Jiffy Lube locations on O'ahu, still needs to find 10 new "lube technicians" to replace workers who moved to the Mainland or opted for higher paying jobs in the Islands or were activated with the Hawai'i National Guard.

"It's getting harder to find applicants to be employees," Tsukamoto said. "I've been noticing a lot of 'Help Wanted' signs that have been up for a while."

August's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate meant that 619,700 people had jobs and 16,800 were unemployed. The number of unemployed dropped 12.3 percent from August 2004, when Hawai'i saw a 3.7 percent seasonally adjusted unemployment rate.

"We've been at 1.9 percent before but we're certainly at the lowest we've been in at least the last 10 years and probably going back to the mid-1980s," said James Hardway, spokesman for the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Since January 2004, Hawai'i's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has been either the lowest or second lowest in the country each month. For the last six months in a row, Hawai'i's rate has been running below 3 percent.

Mary Ann Failma, 23, of Waipi'o, remains unemployed despite credentials as a Hawai'i Pacific University pre-med graduate who is heading to medical school in the Caribbean in December.

Failma believes her short-term status in Hawai'i keeps employers from hiring her for any kind of office job, from data entry to a secretary's assistant.

"I'm pretty flexible and I'm pretty well-rounded," said Failma, who also worked for three years at Hickam Air Force Base as a civilian automation clerk. "I can do things with a computer. I can do things with a lab. But everyone's looking for someone that's going to be sticking around longer. I don't want to lie to them and say I'll be around and then up and leave in December for medical school."

So Failma continues to look for a full-time job that she'll need for only a few months.

She hopes to meet the perfect employer at the Job Quest fair Tuesday at the Neal Blaisdell Center, which could see a record number of recruiters. As of yesterday, 190 employers were scheduled to attend.

Carl Hinson, director of workforce development for Hawaii Pacific Health, will send recruiters to the job fair to try to fill some of the 350 openings that the organization has at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children, Kapi'olani Medical Center at Pali Momi, Straub Clinic & Hospital, and Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Kaua'i.

"With 6,000 employees, if you do the math it doesn't sound like that many openings," Hinson said. "But trust me, we have a lot of openings and we have to try and fill them all."

While Hawaii Pacific Health needs skilled workers for nursing and technical positions, there are also dozens of openings for entry-level jobs.

Earlier this week, Straub officials held their own job fair in the hospital and hired nine people on the spot to fill nursing, patient account representative and medical assistant positions, Hinson said.

"We're thinking we're going to do a few more of those," Hinson said.

Straub officials are even re-interviewing a striking Northwest Airlines mechanic who applied for a position as a biomedical engineer "to go from fixing airlines to fixing X-ray machines," Hinson said. "It's a bit of a stretch but we'll see if it works out."

Also yesterday, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations released preliminary data showing that 2,347 fewer workers' compensation claims were filed in 2004 compared with 2003. The claims represent a drop of 8.2 percent.

In 2003, Hawai'i had 1,089 fewer workers' comp claims than in 2002 — for a 3.7 percent drop.

"During the past several years, we have seen more and more of Hawai'i's companies and labor organizations investing their valuable resources, time and money to build and maintain exemplary safety programs that ensure their employees enjoy a safe and healthy workplace," said labor director Nelson Befitel. "It is nice to see the positive results of their hard work."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.