<P> By 1932 , unemployment had reached 23.6 % , peaking in early 1933 at 25 % . Drought persisted in the agricultural heartland , businesses and families defaulted on record numbers of loans , and more than 5,000 banks had failed . Hundreds of thousands of Americans found themselves homeless , and began congregating in shanty towns -- dubbed `` Hoovervilles '' -- that began to appear across the country . In response , President Hoover and Congress approved the Federal Home Loan Bank Act , to spur new home construction , and reduce foreclosures . The final attempt of the Hoover Administration to stimulate the economy was the passage of the Emergency Relief and Construction Act ( ERA ) which included funds for public works programs such as dams and the creation of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation ( RFC ) in 1932 . The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was a Federal agency with the authority to lend up to $2 billion to rescue banks and restore confidence in financial institutions . But $2 billion was not enough to save all the banks , and bank runs and bank failures continued . Quarter by quarter the economy went downhill , as prices , profits and employment fell , leading to the political realignment in 1932 that brought to power Franklin Delano Roosevelt . It is important to note , however , that after volunteerism failed , Hoover developed ideas that laid the framework for parts of the New Deal . </P>
<P> By 1932 , unemployment had reached 23.6 % , peaking in early 1933 at 25 % . Drought persisted in the agricultural heartland , businesses and families defaulted on record numbers of loans , and more than 5,000 banks had failed . Hundreds of thousands of Americans found themselves homeless , and began congregating in shanty towns -- dubbed `` Hoovervilles '' -- that began to appear across the country . In response , President Hoover and Congress approved the Federal Home Loan Bank Act , to spur new home construction , and reduce foreclosures . The final attempt of the Hoover Administration to stimulate the economy was the passage of the Emergency Relief and Construction Act ( ERA ) which included funds for public works programs such as dams and the creation of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation ( RFC ) in 1932 . The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was a Federal agency with the authority to lend up to $2 billion to rescue banks and restore confidence in financial institutions . But $2 billion was not enough to save all the banks , and bank runs and bank failures continued . Quarter by quarter the economy went downhill , as prices , profits and employment fell , leading to the political realignment in 1932 that brought to power Franklin Delano Roosevelt . It is important to note , however , that after volunteerism failed , Hoover developed ideas that laid the framework for parts of the New Deal . </P>
when did the great depression reached its peak
when did the great depression reached its peak
early 1933
early 1933