The Job Quest job fair at Blaisdell Center on Wednesday drew fewer job hunters and more employers compared with a year ago, indicating an improvement in the local labor market, organizers said.

About 3,500 people turned out for the event, down from 5,900 in January 2011. The number of businesses and government agencies recruiting workers rose to 150 from 135.

"I’m seeing a turnaround," said Beth Busch, executive director of the job fair. "We have more clients — and not just at the job fair, but every day — who have more openings," she said.

Among the employers at the event looking to do large-scale hiring were Hawaii Pacific Health, which has openings for 260 health care workers.

Hawaii Pacific Health, which operates several hospitals in the state, hopes to absorb some of the workers who lost their jobs when Hawaii Medical Center recently shut down its two hospitals on Oahu, said Carl Hinson, director of work force development. The company already has hired 78 former HMC workers, he said.

Openings have increased in recent months as the economy has strengthened and the need for some health care professionals to work multiple jobs has eased, Hinson said.

"We’re starting to see some improvement in the economy," Hinson said. Health care workers typically increase their hours during economic downturns when other family members lose their jobs he said. "Now that we’re starting to see other family members get back to work, it is creating more hours for us," he said.

Another company with a large presence at the job fair was Walmart, which is in the process of hiring 300 employees for a new store it plans to open in Kapolei this spring.

Adam Hernandez of Kapolei said Walmart recruiters at the job fair offered to interview him on the spot.

"I’m also going back to school in April, but I can do that online," said Hernandez, who has been unemployed since May. Hernandez, 41, said he worked several jobs in retail and security since being discharged from the Army in 2005.

Several construction companies were at the job fair recruiting for the first time.

Triton Marine Construction Corp., a Washington state-based contractor with an office in Aiea, was looking to fill four administrative positions. There are also continuing openings for tradesmen, said Brian Reid, project manager for Triton.

The company, which does specialty concrete work and demolition, has increased its business in Hawaii by 400 percent over the past five years, Reid said.

Steve Milligan, a 65-year-old contractor who moved to Honolulu from Florida eight months ago, said he was encouraged to see openings in the construction sector.

"I’ve talked to a lot of people who said there is work here, you just have to find it and get it," he said. "In Florida where I’m from, there is no work — period.

"I’ve been dropping resumes around. I’ve been a carpenter for 40 years so I can pretty much do anything in the business."