Everyone knows that 2011 was a difficult year for all sorts of people from all walks of life. As the country still struggles through slow economic growth, lets take a look at how the year panned out in different financial areas.
Overall Economy- the GDP, which measures overall production in the country, grew much slower than expected, at a rate of 1.7%. This is especially disappointing as many experts believed growth would be somewhere around 2.5% - 3%.
Investments- it was a rollercoaster year for stocks which rose less than 1%. However, bonds gained 7% overall.
Housing market- Nationwide, home prices fell about 5% and mortgage rates fell to all-time lows at a little over 4%.
Jobs- the national unemployment rate remains steady at around 9%.
Savings rates- The Federal Reserve kept savings rates pretty much the same. However, the Fed is expected to keep short-term interest rates near 0% sometime in the near future.