Global Industrial Production

During the Great Depression industrial production had a massive three-year decline. Today’s global markets experienced an initial shock, then global trade and global production continued, albeit more slow than prior to the Great Recession.

Global stock markets have mounted a sharp recovery; however, the proportionate decline in stock market wealth remains even greater than at the comparable stage of the Great Depression.

Thousands of unemployed Chinese graduates flock to a job fair in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province on March 7, 2009. China vowed to help train one million graduates in the next three years to boost their qualifications, and promised loans to business that hire graduates, as unemployment continues to grow. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)