After five years and three majors, Luke Goddard graduated from Macon State College cum laude in July with an English degree.

Since graduating a few months ago, he’s mostly used online job search Web sites to look for jobs and post his resume.

“I’m hoping to get a bite,” he said.

Goddard is one of about 15 million Americans applying for 2.4 million available jobs. That breaks down to about six applicants per job, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor this month. Nationally, unemployment has reached 9.8 percent, and in Georgia, unemployment has hit 10.1 percent, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.

For Americans ages 16 to 24, unemployment has gone up to 18 percent, up from 13 percent last year, according to a Business Week article in its Oct. 8 issue. Just two years ago, 84.4 percent of college graduates ages 22 to 27 had jobs, only somewhat lower than the 86.8 percent of college graduates ages 28 to 50 who were employed, according to the same article.

For now, Goddard, 24, has landed a few interviews, but none of them turned into jobs. He applied to become an academic resource center coordinator for Macon State College’s Warner Robins campus, but the job went to an internal candidate, he said.

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