That's a log way from being the whole story, then or now. In the 1870s ok unemployment was high at 25%, but the rate of growth of the population had only just dipped below 30% per decade. Job growth was actually also booming, just not as much.

Similarly if we take a global view over the last few decades, China added hundreds of millions of people to the labour force. It's been the period of the greatest reduction in poverty ever. That's got to count for something.

EDIT In fact enormous wealth has been created, and it's not all been concentrated in the top 1%. The bottom 30% or so globally has also benefited massively. It just hasn't really benefited mid range workers in the West, but let's not pretend the last few decades have been a disaster, or even particularly bad in the grand scheme of things.