In the United States the economic upturn gathered pace as the year progressed, and the risk of sliding back into recession consequently receded into the background. Most significantly, private consumption remained robust despite muted income growth. A key pillar of the US economy, however, was gross investment in fixed assets, which includes the acquisition of durable and reproducible means of production; such investments made an appreciable contribution to the growth in gross domestic product (GDP) recorded in 2011. Prospects on the labour market have also picked up again of late, thereby confirming the at least moderate expansion of the US economy. Nevertheless, the US still struggled in the face of structural difficulties, levels of personal and public debt continued to be high and sales figures on real estate markets remained very subdued. Overall, GDP rose by 1.7% in the year under review.