U.S. Economy Grew At 1.7 Percent Annual Rate In Second Quarter

The Bureau of Economic Analysis revised its GDP numbers today, saying that during the second quarter of this year, the United States economy grew at a 1.7 percent annual rate.

That's up from its original estimate of 1.5 percent.

The BEA reports:

"The increase in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, nonresidential fixed investment, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from private inventory investment and from state and local government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased."

Update at 8:41 p.m. ET. Just What Economists Expected:

Business Insider reports that this is exactly the kind of revision economists expected.

So the news, "This isn't likely to induce much of a reaction."

"Economists expect a little better growth in the second half of the year after seeing some improvement in July data," the AP reports. "But most believe the economy will keep growing at a sub-par rate of around 2 percent."

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