what effect did the great depression have on the unemployment rate
Great Depression in the United States The Great Depression began in AugustÂ 1929, when the United States economy first went into an economic recession. Although the country spent two months with declining GDP, it was not until the Wall Street Crash in October 1929 that the effects of a declining economy were felt, and a major worldwide economic downturn ensued. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement. Although its causes are still uncertain and controversial, the net effect was a sudden and general loss of confidence in the economic future. [1]
Depression of 1920–21 There was a brief post–World War I recession immediately following the end of the war which lasted for 2 years, complicating the absorption of millions of veterans into the economy. The economy started to grow, though it had not yet completed all the adjustments in shifting from a wartime to a peacetime economy. Factors identified as contributing to the downturn include: returning troops which created a surge in the civilian labor force and problems in absorbing the veterans, a decline in labor union strife, changes in fiscal and monetary policy, and changes in price expectations.