<P> The federal programs launched by Hoover and greatly expanded by president Roosevelt's New Deal used massive construction projects to try to jump start the economy and solve the unemployment crisis . The alphabet agencies ERA, CCC, FERA, WPA and PWA built and repaired the public infrastructure in dramatic fashion, but did little to foster the recovery of the private sector . FERA, CCC, and especially WPA focused on providing unskilled jobs for long - term unemployed men . </P> <P> The extent to which the spending for relief and public works provided a sufficient stimulus to revive the U.S. economy, or whether it harmed the economy, is also debated . If one defines economic health entirely by the gross domestic product, the U.S. had gotten back on track by 1934, and made a full recovery by 1936, but as Roosevelt said, one third of the nation was ill fed, ill - housed and ill - clothed . See Chart 3 . GNP was 34% higher in 1936 than 1932, and 58% higher in 1940 on the eve of war . The economy grew 58% from 1932 to 1940 in 8 years of peacetime, and then grew another 56% from 1940 to 1945 in 5 years of wartime . The unemployment rate fell from 25.2% in 1932 to 13.9% in 1940 when the draft started . During the war the economy operated under so many different conditions that comparison is impossible with peacetime, such as massive spending, price controls, bond campaigns, controls over raw materials, prohibitions on new housing and new automobiles, rationing, guaranteed cost - plus profits, subsidized wages, and the draft of 12 million soldiers . </P> <P> In 1995 economist Robert Whaples stated that measuring the effect of the New Deal remains a thorny issue for economists because it is so difficult to measure the effects it had on the country . A survey of academic specialists by Whaples showed that 49% of those economists surveyed felt that the New Deal lengthened and deepened the depression, while 51% disagreed . The same survey also showed that only 5% of professional historians and 27% of professional economists felt the same way . However, economist Eric Rauchway of the University of California stated "very few people disapprove of most of the New Deal reforms", which include Social Security, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and Fannie Mae . Regardless, unemployment peaked in 1932 at 25% and was reduced to 13.9% by 1940 . </P> <P> As Broadus Mitchell summarized, "Most indexes worsened until the summer of 1932, which may be called the low point of the depression economically and psychologically". Economic indicators show the American economy declined until February 1933 . After Roosevelt took office, there began a steady, sharp upward recovery that persisted until the brief Recession of 1937--1938 (see graph) after which they continued their upward climb . Thus the Federal Reserve Index of Industrial Production bottomed at 52.8 on July 1, 1932 and was practically unchanged at 54.3 on March 1, 1933; however by July 1, 1933, it had climbed to 85.5 (with 1935--39 = 100, and for comparison 2005 = 1,342). </P>

Which area of the u.s. economy had the biggest boost after world war i