The Statistics The Great Depression was an economic struggle that is hard to imagine unless lived through. The statistics during the time offer more insight as to just how bad conditions were. It began in 1929, and by 1933, the United States’ gross national product was less than half than the level it was at in the beginning. The construction of industrial plants fell by 90%, automobile production fell by more than 60%, and steel plants were operating at only 12% of their …show more content…
This boom was not just confined to the United States either; it was happening worldwide. However, problems in communication caused investment to drop dramatically. On Friday, there was a bit of recovery, and shares hit 6 million followed by a session on Saturday that made all the numbers climb back to those on Thursday. On Tuesday, October 29, also known as Black Tuesday, the stock market crashed. 16,410,030 shares on top of people dumping their securities put downward pressure on the market. The Dow Jones opened at $299 and closed at $230, and all of the investors, along with everyone else knew that there was no quick turnaround, and the economy was in for tons of hurt (University of Notre Dame,