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

According to the estimate, the U.S. real GDP expanded at an annual rate of 6.5 percent q-o-q last quarter, following a revised 6.3 percent q-o-q growth in the first quarter (originally a 6.4 percent q-o-q advance), reflecting the continued economic recovery, reopening of establishments and continued government response related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Economists had expected GDP to increase 8.5 percent q-o-q.

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