If you woke up on this morning 80 years ago, you would have read about the Wall Street market crash the day before that ushered in the Great Depression. The U.S. Census Bureau offers the following facts on how those times compare to now.
During the Great Depression, 9,000 banks failed and some stocks took 25 years to regain their value. By 1932, one of every four Americans was out of work. Today, the structures put in place to prevent another Depression are under severe test, led by the mortgage crisis, a big drop in stock prices and increased unemployment. Now, one-in-four U.S. households own shares of stock and more than four out of 10 invest in mutual funds. The U.S. Census Bureau provided these facts as part of its daily Profile In America series.