The Commerce Department released on Thursday its advance estimate for the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2021, which revealed the U.S. economy grew more than forecast in the reviewed period.

According to the estimate, the U.S. real GDP expanded at an annual rate of 6.4 percent q-o-q last quarter, following a 4.3 percent q-o-q growth in the fourth quarter of 2020, reflecting the continued economic recovery, reopening of establishments, and continued government response related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Economists had expected GDP to increase by 6.1 percent q-o-q.

According to the report, the advance in real GDP in the first quarter reflected gains in personal consumption expenditures (PCE), nonresidential fixed investment, federal government spending, residential fixed investment, and state and local government spending, which were partly offset by declines in private inventory investment and exports. Meanwhile, imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, rose.