A report from
the Commerce Department showed on Thursday that the U.S. economy grew slower
than initially thought in the second quarter, due to downward revisions to
state and local government spending, exports, private inventory investment, and
residential investment that were partly offset by an upward revision to
personal consumption expenditures (PCE).
According to
the second estimate, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a 2.0
percent annual rate in the second quarter, slightly lower than 2.1 percent
reported in the advance estimate.
Economists had
expected the growth rate to come in at 2.0 percent, following the second
quarter's increase of 3.1 percent.
The increase in
real GDP in the second quarter reflected positive contributions from PCE,
federal government spending, and state and local government spending that were
partly offset by negative contributions from private inventory investment,
exports, residential fixed investment, and nonresidential fixed investment.
Imports increased.
Meanwhile, the
deceleration in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected downturns in
inventory investment, exports, and nonresidential fixed investment. These
downturns were partly offset by accelerations in PCE and federal government
spending.