ABSTRACT
In lieu of hard data on industrial unemployment during the early years, historians have looked at other statistics as indirect evidence of conditions in the labor market. This chapter illustrates the potential contribution of such information by considering the way various analysts have used employment figures to arrive at estimates of unemployment. In addition, it briefly assesses the value of alternate indicators of work scarcity such as wages, prices and consumption patterns. The prospect of unemployment was a menace which many workers came to take seriously as three successive downturns threatened to eliminate every semblance of stability from already precarious existences. Bad conditions in German industry leading to high unemployment were reflected in the patterns of demand for food and beverages. In view of deflation, the high cost of animal products such as pork or butter and the surprisingly steep cost of both wheat and rye during economically depressed years were noteworthy.
