<P> The recovery , however , proved short - lived . Business profits declined steeply between 1882 and 1884 . The recovery in railroad construction reversed itself , falling from 11,569 mi ( 18,619 km ) of track laid in 1882 to 2,866 mi ( 4,612 km ) of track laid in 1885 ; the price of steel rails collapsed from $71 / ton in 1880 to $20 / ton in 1884 . Manufacturing again collapsed - durable goods output fell by a quarter again . The decline became another financial crisis in 1884 , when multiple New York banks collapsed ; simultaneously , in 1883 -- 1884 , tens of millions of dollars of foreign - owned American securities were sold out of fears that the United States was preparing to abandon the gold standard . This financial panic destroyed eleven New York banks , more than a hundred state banks , and led to defaults on at least $32 million worth of debt . Unemployment , which had stood at 2.5 % between recessions , surged to 7.5 % in 1884 -- 1885 , and 13 % in the northeastern United States , even as immigration plunged in response to deteriorating labor markets . </P>
<P> The recovery , however , proved short - lived . Business profits declined steeply between 1882 and 1884 . The recovery in railroad construction reversed itself , falling from 11,569 mi ( 18,619 km ) of track laid in 1882 to 2,866 mi ( 4,612 km ) of track laid in 1885 ; the price of steel rails collapsed from $71 / ton in 1880 to $20 / ton in 1884 . Manufacturing again collapsed - durable goods output fell by a quarter again . The decline became another financial crisis in 1884 , when multiple New York banks collapsed ; simultaneously , in 1883 -- 1884 , tens of millions of dollars of foreign - owned American securities were sold out of fears that the United States was preparing to abandon the gold standard . This financial panic destroyed eleven New York banks , more than a hundred state banks , and led to defaults on at least $32 million worth of debt . Unemployment , which had stood at 2.5 % between recessions , surged to 7.5 % in 1884 -- 1885 , and 13 % in the northeastern United States , even as immigration plunged in response to deteriorating labor markets . </P>
when did railroads financial problems prompt nationwide economic panic
when did railroads financial problems prompt nationwide economic panic
in 1883 -- 1884
in 1883 -- 1884