The unemployment rate rose by a whisker, from 4.4% in October to 4.5%, but this was the result of an increase in the number of people looking for work, not a lack of jobs.

The Phoenix Police Department set an annual record for the most applicants last year —4,000 —before the hiring program was shut down in October because of budget cuts.

With the U.S. unemployment rate near a 26-year high, a record number of unemployed Americans are turning away from applying for jobs at large corporations and starting their own businesses instead.