The U.S. economy grew at a 3.8% clip in the second quarter this year, faster than originally thought, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
The department initially said GDP grew at a 3.0% annual rate in the second quarter. That estimate, released in July, was revised higher to 3.3% in August before being raised again today. The revisions show a significant bounce back from the first quarter, when GDP shrank 0.6% as U.S. businesses ramped up imports ahead of President Trump’s new tariff regime.
The stronger GDP growth was driven by an upward revision in consumer spending, which grew by 2.5% in the second quarter, better than the previous estimate of 1.6%.
What the experts are saying: Bret Kenwell, an investment analyst at eToro, told CNN that the size of the revisions has been unusual, probably due to rapid changes in policy under Trump. “This year’s economic data — especially over the past few months — has been noisy, and economic policy uncertainty has remained elevated throughout 2025,” he said. “With so many moving parts in the GDP report, it’s not surprising that larger-than-expected revisions are showing up, particularly in a year marked by heightened volatility and mixed signals.”
Overall, the U.S. economy appears to be in better shape than some analysts feared. “The U.S. consumer remained a lot stronger than many thought, even in the midst of a stock market sell-off and a lot of trade uncertainty,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote on social media.
This suggests that the economy could gather steam in the third quarter, and perhaps beyond. “The economy is clearly recovering from the shock of tariff implementation,” said Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial, per Bloomberg. “Accelerating growth should mean stronger job growth within the next few months.”