The U.S. economy expanded in the second quarter of 2015 as real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.9 percent, according to an estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
Real GDP is adjusted for inflation and represents "the value of the production of goods and services produced by the nation’s economy less the value of the goods and services used in production." Experts have been consistently revising the GDP upwards from the advance estimate of 2.3 percent and the second estimate of 3.7 percent to reach the third estimate of 3.9 percent, which is based on more complete source data.
The GDP figure released today exceeded the rate of 3.7 percent that Wall Street Journal economists predicted.
Second-quarter growth, which includes performance from April, May, and June, also outpaced the growth seen in the first quarter of 2015 of 0.6 percent, which includes performance from January, February, and March.
The BEA attributes that growth to personal consumption expenditures, nonresidential fixed investment, state and local government spending, and residential fixed investment.
GDP growth expanded at a lower rate during this quarter than it did last year. In 2014, the economy expanded at 4.6 percent in the second quarter.
"The third quarter is not likely to match second-quarter numbers," according to the Wall Street Journal. "Economists estimate a more modest pace of slightly above 2% in the July-to-September period."
"A measure of private inventories leveled off in the second quarter, suggesting firms may start selling off products stocked on their shelves rather than making new ones," the Journal states. "That could temporarily push down the pace of growth."
BEA will release its advance GDP estimate for the third quarter of 2015 on Oct. 29.