PUHI — A recent job fair on Kauai featuring just 34 businesses attracted hundreds of jobseekers in a sign of how hard the Garden Island has been hit by the recession.

Kauai's jobless rate broke double-digits in March, reaching 10.3 percent, the highest among Hawaii counties and well above the state average of 7.1 percent.

Kauai's unemployment rate has more than tripled last year's, when it was 3.1 percent.

About 300 to 400 people turned out yesterday at the job fair at Kauai Community College. Many had lost their jobs because of the economic downturn.

Wayne Mukai of WorkWise Development, which helped host the event, estimates there are about 3,000 unemployed eligible workers on the island of about 60,000 residents. He says that doesn't include the underemployed.