Big Apple History . Business and Politics . Economic Collapse


	Men line up outside an employment agency hoping to find work.

No economic crisis in American history had been as severe as the Great Depression. It began in October 1929 in New York City at the time of the stock market crash. With the population of the United States at about 125 million, in 1929 fewer than two million people were unemployed countrywide; in 1930, eight million had no jobs; in 1931, thirteen million were without work. The jobless rate would peak between 1932 and '33 when sixteen million men -- or about one third of the national labor force -- were out of work.

Construction all but stopped. Even established industries, like railroads and publishing, failed. Many unskilled laborers were turned out of work, white-collar workers fell into the ranks of the unemployed masses, and even the professional class was hit by this tragedy. One out of three Brooklyn doctors went out of business. Six out of seven architects had to find other means of employment to support themselves and their families.

The newly rich returned the shiny new motorcars they'd bought on credit and the working poor were evicted. Everyone knew someone who had lost his livelihood. Some men, embarrassed that they no longer had work, pretended they still did. They left their houses in the morning dressed up in suits, briefcases empty.