How did Employment Security get its start?
In October 1929, a plummeting stock market plunged America into
a financial disaster that has been remembered ever since as “The
Great Depression.” Left in its wake was an economic
wasteland that offered no market for goods and no buying power.
Industry closed its doors, businesses went broke, and hundreds of
thousands of people were out of work, with little or no prospect
for employment or income.
In response to this crisis, the U.S. government crafted a pair
of laws to provide remedial and preventative action. The Wagner-Peyser
Act, signed into law in 1933, established employment offices throughout
the country. The Alaska Employment Security Division is one of these
offices. The Social Security Act, passed in 1935, established
the laws that created unemployment insurance. This insurance
is an efficient way to maintain economic stability, especially in
areas where workers are laid off and employment is scarce.