The highest rate of U.S. unemployment was 24.9 percent in 1933. From 1931 to 1940 it kept above the 14 percent. Remember that the unemployment rate by year refers to the percent of unemployed in the labour force. That means that 24.9 percent of the people trying to find a job, were unable to get one. This number shows the collapse that occurred in the labour market in just a few years. The recovery came with World War II which created the industrial demand needed for the economic prosperity.
