GDP 2nd Quarter 2010: 1.6%

The new figure was better than analysts’ expectations for a 1.4 percent rate, lower net exports and a smaller inventory gain being the major factors in the downward revision. The surge in imports subtracted a full 3.4 percentage points from economic growth, the biggest impact by the trade deficit in 63 years.

Consumer spending was revised upward, from a previously reported rate of 1.6 percent to 2 percent to offset other downward revisions, and business spending continued to be the major factor in the overall gain, increasing almost 25 percent from the first quarter.

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GDP 2nd Quarter 2010: 2.4%

In the first of three estimates for U.S. economic growth in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported that real Gross Domestic Product slowed to an annualized rate of 2.4 percent, down from an upwardly revised rate of 3.7 percent in the first quarter, primarily due to a widening trade deficit and declining consumer spending.

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GDP Revised Downward

GDP rose at a 2.4% rate from April to June. First-quarter growth was revised up, but estimates all the way back to 2007 were revised lower.

The U.S. economy slowed in the second quarter of this year and the government said the recession was deeper than earlier believed, adding to concerns over the recovery's strength...

In the first quarter, the economy grew by 3.7%, revised up from an originally reported 2.7% increase. But growth estimates all the way back to the start of 2007 were revised lower...

The government revision of data over the past three years showed that the economy's exit from its deep slump was weaker than previously estimated. In the final quarter of 2009, for example, GDP rose at an annualized rate of 5.0% as consumer spending didn't grow as much as previously thought. The earlier estimate was that GDP increased by 5.6%...

For all of 2009, the government said the U.S. economy contracted by 2.6%, compared to the previously estimated 2.4% decline. In the whole of 2008, GDP was flat, instead of rising 0.4% as previously estimated. In 2007, the world's largest economy expanded by 2.1%, down from an originally reported 1.9% increase.

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