A Then and Now Project By Sandra Olivar and Long Vo

Stock Market Crash During the summer of 1929 stock prices began to fall, and the stock market kept dropping. This was also known as“Black Tuesday”

The Great Depression  By the end of million families, or 71%, earned less than $2,500a a year.  Factories continued to close because of overproduction and people lost their jobs.  Many people had no salaries or savings to pay bills.  Many farmers lost their farms.

Unemployment  By the end of 1932, 12 million workers were unemployed.  30,000 businesses failed in 1932, as the unemployment rate was at the peak.  By the end of 1933, the nation’s unemployment rate was at nearly 25 percent, up from only 3 percent in 1929.

Hard Times  Many people were hungry because they did not get enough food.  Breadlines and soup kitchens became ways for people to survive.  People who lost their jobs traveled the country looking for work.  Young people, who could not find work, left their homes looking for food and shelter where they could.

THE GREAT RECESSION Recently the US has gone through another difficult period of high unemployment called the Great Recession.

UNEMPLOYMENT Now The recession began in December,  The Great Recession began in December of  In 2008 about 1.2 million people were unemployed.  This was 8.1%. of the workforce, up from 5.1% in  As a result many Americans have had to deal with job losses and money problems.

Recession Results  The recession led to falling salaries, store sales, and GDP ( gross domestic product./  People did not have enough money to pay household bills or for college.  Many faced the chance of losing their homes.  Homelessness and poverty increased.

Recovery The unemployment rate grew to 10.1% in Fortunately in 2012, the economy has begun to get better. The proof is an 8.1% unemployment rate this year, a drop of 2% from Even though there have been hard times in recent years, things are getting better.

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