During the Great Depression, what level did unemployment reach in 1933?
- 27%
- 5%
- 50%
- 75%
Answer: 27%
Unemployment reached 27% in 1933, during the Great Depression or “Dirty Thirties,” which followed the stock market crash of 1929. Many businesses were wiped out, and farmers in Western Canada were hit hardest. There was growing demand for a social safety net, such as unemployment insurance.
Learn more: Between the wars
- After the First World War, the British Empire became a free association of states called the British Commonwealth of Nations.
- Canada is still a leading member of the Commonwealth, with India, Australia, New Zealand and several African and Caribbean countries.
- The “Roaring Twenties” were boom times with low unemployment.
- The stock market crash of 1929 led to the Great Depression, or the “Dirty Thirties.”
- Unemployment reached 27% in 1933, and many businesses were wiped out.
- Farmers in Western Canada were hit hardest, by low grain prices and a terrible drought.
- There was growing demand for a government social safety net: minimum wages, a standard work week and programs such as unemployment insurance.
- The Bank of Canada, a central bank that manages the money supply and brings stability to the financial system, was created in 1934.
- Immigration dropped, and many refugees were turned away, including Jews trying to flee Nazi Germany in 1939.