Migration began about 1925. Prior to that the Federation had about 95 percent of the full-fashioned knitting machines organized. At the same time, new equipment - longer section machines, faster machines, etc. - were introduced, and production per worker was doubled with these machines. The hosiery industry was hit harder by the Great Depression than most other industries. Manufacturers overproduced by six and a half million dozen in 1929. Cutthroat competition set in and, in order to get cheaper labor, migration south accelerated. By 1929 the Federation controlled about 50 percent of the full-fashioned machines, but only about 30 percent of the production.
