Midn09, you should keep in mind that employment statistics pre 197(3?) often reflected as those in the military as unemployed since they were draftees and the military offered below-market wages in many fields. Furthermore, FDR's work-projects programs were largely unsuccessful in changing the economic status quo. WWII prevented consumer spending during the actual war since the production possibilities frontier was maximized for war goods (think no new tires, tin, chocolate, or silk stockings, since all of these were needed for war materials) but Americans' bank accounts fattened up as men lined up in the service, joined women in factories, farmers produced year round, etc. When the war ended, the labor force shifted to consumer discretionary goods of durables and non durables and with fattened wallets, Americans spent their hard-earned war money, thus keeping people employed. Exports too went up as Europe and Asia turned to the U.S. as a necessary trading partner. While WWII itself did not end the depression, the effects on employment and propensity to consume resulting from WWII production did, in large part end the depression.
