Given the economic importance of agriculture and the debts incurred in the 1920s it was not surprising that the Great Depression had a major impact on WA. Falling prices for agricultural goods hit farming areas hard leading to a further fall in demand, rising unemployment and much hardship. It was only after the Labor government of Philip Collier accepted the Premier's Plan and agricultural prices began to rise that the economy recovered. Even so, unemployment in WA did not fall below 10% until the outbreak of war in 1939.