US GDP revised up to 3.8% in Q2 as imports decline

The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.8 percent in the April through June quarter, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday, a sharp upward revision that exceeded economists’ forecasts and reflected a sizable drop in imports and stronger consumer spending. The figure is the BEA’s third and final estimate for second-quarter gross domestic product and was revised up from the 3.3 percent pace reported last month and the initial 3.0 percent estimate earlier in the year.

The agency said the acceleration primarily reflected a 29.3 percent decline in imports, which subtract from GDP, and a 2.5 percent increase in consumer spending. Those gains were partly offset by decreases in private investment and exports and a large drag from declining business inventories. The revision upward by 0.5 percentage point from the BEA’s second estimate was driven largely by higher-than-previously-reported consumer outlays.

The stronger spring rebound followed a revised 0.6 percent contraction in the first quarter, leaving the economy to expand at about a 1.6 percent annualized rate over the first half of 2025. Economists and the government cautioned that both...