The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in US history. It began in 1929 and did not abate until the end of the 1930s. The stock market crash of October 1929 signaled the beginning of the Great Depression. By 1933, unemployment was at 25 percent and more than 5,000 banks had gone out of business.
Public Works Administration (PWA), in U.S. history, New Deal government agency (1933–39) designed to reduce unemployment and increase purchasing power through the construction of highways and public buildings.
