USA

The economic recovery in the United States weakened appreciably as the year progressed. Key factors in this change of pace were, in the first place, foreign trade – which delivered a clearly negative growth contribution – and, secondly, the declining impetus from economic stimulus programmes. Against this backdrop, the structural problems remained considerable: the level of debt carried by private households was and still is high; what is more, the crisis in the real estate sector continued unabated. The state of the labour market consequently showed no signs of easing; the unemployment rate of 9.8% was exceptionally high, reaching a historic record level among the long-term unemployed. Private consumption, one of the mainsprings of the US economy, was therefore muted, and a sustained return to economic growth failed to materialise. Overall, gross domestic product – after contracting in 2009 – moved back into growth in the year under review, albeit only to the tune of 2.9%.