Unemployment Rate: Through the unemployed rate has remained above 8% for 30 straight months, latest data reveals that unemployment fell slightly to 9.1% in July and the economy added 117,000 jobs
GDP: The economy grew below expectations at 1.3% in 2011. More worryingly, GDP growth was revised down to 0.4% from 2%
Manufacturing: Manufacturing grew at its slowest pace in over two years at 50.9 in July according to the Institute of Supply Management's purchasing managers index (PMI).