A record 20 million-plus people collected unemployment benefits at some point in 2009, a year that ended with the jobless rate at 10 percent.

As the pace of layoffs slows, the number of new applicants visiting unemployment offices has been on the decline in recent months. But limited hiring means the ranks of the long-term unemployed continues to grow, with more than 5.8 million people out of work for more than six months.

For 2009, the Dow Jones industrial average  climbed 18.8 percent, the S&P 500  shot up 23.5 percent and the Nasdaq surged 43.9 percent.