The state of Hawai'i's employment market could be found yesterday in the line of job seekers that sometimes serpentined around the recruiting booth of bankrupt Aloha Airlines.

Aloha filed for federal bankruptcy protection in December and is on the verge of being sold to new owners. But a crowd of people sometimes 10 or more deep yesterday often lined up around Aloha's recruiting booth.

"Folks need jobs, I guess," said Angela Woods, an Aloha human resources recruiter.

More specifically, they want jobs that pay better than what they're making now — and come with security and benefits, said Beth Busch, executive director of yesterday's Job Quest job fair at the Neal Blaisdell Center.

"You can definitely say that's a trend because it's a job seekers' market," Busch said. "They're in the cat bird's seat, so now's the time to bargain for a better job."

With Hawai'i again boasting the lowest unemployment rate in the nation — 2.6 percent for August — many of the 4,200 people who came to the job fair already are working.

Vince Albalos, a 39-year-old truck driver from Pearl City, stood in line eager to talk to Aloha recruiters about openings.

"Yeah, a lot of it definitely has to do with the benefits," he said.

Several job seekers told The Advertiser that they did not want to be identified or photographed because they had called in sick or were supposed to be working yesterday.

A 43-year-old sales representative who asked not to be identified works on commission and wants a job with more stability.

"I'm looking for a salary, a bonus structure and job advancement," he said.

Honolulu Police Department Lt. Letha DeCaires helped pass out 400 recruitment brochures at the department's booth in less than half an hour.

"People are very interested in stable jobs and good health benefits," DeCaires said. "They're really looking for stability."

Success Advertising puts on three job fairs each year and the fall fair is historically the sleepiest of them all.

But as Hawai'i's unemployment rate remains low, 200 employers turned out yesterday at the Blaisdell. No other Success Advertising job fair has seen more recruiters.

"Several thought that they got a higher grade of candidate than before," Busch said. "That supports the idea that a lot of people who came today already have jobs."

Many, like Jose Perez of Waikiki, were trying to move out of part-time or entry-level work — a goal Perez is finding difficult in an economy dominated by tourism and construction.

Perez, 31, has a master's degree from Hawai'i Pacific University in information systems and works part-time helping HPU students, faculty and staff at the campus client services department.

He wants a career in the telecommunications or systems engineering field.

What he found yesterday were mostly part-time openings with no benefits — or full-time jobs at entry-level pay.

The administration of Gov. Linda Lingle has created the Economic Momentum Commission to look at issues of work force development, housing, water and education "to ensure that everyone gets to take advantage of our economic prosperity," said James Hardway, of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Similar commissions in the past "were always formed when the economy wasn't doing well to address how we can get the economy going," Hardway said. "We're in the unique position of trying to ensure that everyone in Hawai'i — from the low skilled person on up — takes advantage of our prosperity and that the prosperity lasts longer."

But yesterday, 22-year-old Valorie Reis, was just trying to find a better paying job than the one she has at The Shack in Hawai'i Kai.

Reis, of Waimanalo, recently graduated from Southern Illinois University with a philosophy degree. Her dream is to one day become a commercial airline pilot.

She needs to find a way to continue paying for flying lessons to get her advanced pilot ratings.

Dawna M. Ota, a HECO human resources analyst, was surrounded by potential candidates for about 60 openings.

"Everybody has a job, but they're looking to see who can pay better, give better benefits and offer a learning opportunity," Ota said. "That's what we're hearing today."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.