A report from the Commerce Department showed on Wednesday that the U.S. economy contracted less than initially thought in the second quarter of 2020, as personal consumption expenditures (PCE) were revised upwardly, while exports and nonresidential fixed investment saw a downward revision.

According to the third estimate, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) plunged at an annual rate of 31.4 percent q-o-q in the second quarter, better than a 31.7 percent q-o-q tumble reported in the second estimate. Still, it remained the biggest contraction ever.

Economists had expected the contraction rate to be unrevised at 31.7 percent q-o-q.

In the first, the economy shrank 5.0 percent q-o-q.

The decrease in real GDP reflected declines in PCE, exports, nonresidential fixed investment, private inventory investment, residential fixed investment, and state and local government spending, which were partly offset by an increase in federal government spending. Meanwhile, imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, fell.