How did the Great Depression affect the incomes of Americans who kept their jobs?

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A long line of unemployed men in coats and hats stands outside a soup kitchen in Chicago, with a storefront sign reading Free Soup, Coffee and Doughnuts for the Unemployed. — Great Depression Unemployed men standing in line outside a soup kitchen, Chicago.

During the Great Depression, the economic downturn was so severe that even Americans who managed to retain their employment experienced a significant reduction in their standard of living. Specifically, those who were able to keep their jobs saw their incomes shrink by one-third.1

This decline in income occurred alongside broader economic devastation, including a 30 percent drop in gross domestic product and a nearly 47 percent fall in industrial production between 1929 and 1933. The period was characterized by acute deflation, where consumers and businesses expected future wages and prices to be lower, which further discouraged spending and investment.213