South Florida's unemployment rate is rising but remains below the state average, which hit a 15-year high in government figures released Friday.

The region's unemployment rate was 6 ½ percent, same as the national rate but lower than the state's 7 percent figure -- the highest since December 1993.

As the job market gets worse, it affects a wider range of people as skilled workers push less-skilled workers out of the running for lower-level jobs.

The unemployment rate for college graduates is typically about half the rate of the overall population. But in October, it was up by more than half a percentage point -- to 3.1 percent nationally for grads over age 25.

These are tough times for many young graduates seeking their first job.

At a recent college football game, Barry University senior Kelli Alexander went from tailgate to tailgate, introducing herself to strangers and collecting 45 business cards. She e-mailed most of the people she met, asking for job leads, and her efforts paid off with an internship at a local publishing company.

''Just breaking the ice is like the main thing that could get you into a career,'' said Alexander, a business major who hopes to work in the cruise industry after she graduates in May. ``Since this project, I became a lot more outgoing.''

Students, job-seekers and college career advisors interviewed said this is the kind of hustle it takes to get ahead these days. ''Ever since last year, there have been more downs than ups,'' said Dolores Bedoya, an unemployed corporate recruiter. ``I've seen people with 20 years and 30 years in HR, and they're out there looking. The competition is there -- a lot of competition.''

FLA. TOPS IN LOSSES

Faced with a huge bust in the housing market that has since spread into other industries, Florida has lost 156,200 jobs in the past 12 months, more than any other state. The losses are expected to continue and the unemployment rate to rise further before the economy starts to recover.

In Washington, meanwhile, President George W. Bush signed a new law Friday extending unemployment benefits another 13 weeks for people in states where the jobless rate is above 6 percent. That's in addition to the 26 weeks of regular benefits and another 13-week extension approved in June.

At Barry, all business majors are required to take a class called ''senior transitions,'' which deals largely with how to look for a job. Teachers emphasize the importance of networking, which is how Alexander found her way to that internship.

Each student was assigned to collect 10 business cards of people in their field and write to those people asking for job leads.

''Nobody wanted to do it,'' Alexander said. ``We all thought it was stupid.''

Then she went to tailgate with her dad and a couple of friends at the season's first Miami Hurricanes football game. Alexander saw an opportunity to quickly meet her quota by canvassing the crowd.

As it happened, the first person she interviewed was a real estate agent whose kids go to the school where Alexander works part-time in after-school child care. Also, the man had sold the family home of one of her two friends.

He put her in touch with a manager at a local publishing company that produces magazines and videos for cruise lines. That led to the internship, which she hopes will help her land a job in the cruise industry next year.

Grads need any edge they can get. Students and college career office officials interviewed said they are seeing searches for first jobs take anywhere from six months to a year, unless the job seeker has one of the few in-demand skills, such as nursing or accounting.

`WE'RE NOT HIRING'

At Broward College, job developer/placement specialist Tyisha Jones said she is having trouble getting companies to commit to the school's February job fair. She has phoned about two dozen companies about the fair, but so far only two have confirmed. Two years ago, 60 companies attended.

''Most of them are saying, `We're not hiring right now,'' '' said Jones, who has a master's degree in business administration.

Jones said she empathizes with her students and graduates. ''They're basically just saying it's hard,'' she said. ``They don't understand. They're used to people graduating and finding a job. But they're graduating and not even getting an interview. Some students have to relocate . . . just to find employment.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

COMING SUNDAY: Seven ways to reinvent yourself if you have lost your job.

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