Great Depression Unemployment Didn't Hit 25 Percent Overnight

Great Depression Unemployment Didn't Hit 25 Percent Overnight

unemployment stats are calculated differently now. If we calculated unemployment the same way we did in the Depression, our unemployment rate would be much higher.

Second, unemployment during the Depression didn't get to 25% overnight. It got there over three years, during which most people never dreamed it would get anywhere near that high. When unemployment started its run to 25% then, it was lower than it was last year.

In 1929, unemployment was below 5%. By the end of 1930, as the New York Times reveals, it had risen to just below 10%. The following year it hit 16%. In 1932, it was 24%. And in 1933, it peaked at 25%. It then took 19 years to get back to the pre-crash low.

As today's depressing jobs report showed, unemployment is now rising rapidly. Not as rapidly as in 1930, but rapidly.