US 2nd Quarter GDP Revised Up to 3 Percent After Better-Than-Expected Consumer Spending

The U.S. economy expanded better than initially reported in the second quarter, reflecting solid consumer spending levels at a time of record household debt and high borrowing costs, according to the second estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis released on Aug. 29. The real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate from April to June was 3 percent, up from last month’s preliminary estimate of 2.8 percent and the previous quarter’s expansion of 1.4 percent. An upward revision to consumer spending was the main factor behind the second-quarter real GDP update, as personal consumption expenditures (PCE) rose by 2.9 percent and contributed 1.95 percent to the final reading. In the advance estimate, consumer spending increased by 2.3 percent and padded the GDP percentage by 1.57 percent....