The U.S. economy expanded in the third quarter of 2016 as real gross domestic product grew at a rate of 3.2 percent, according to the second estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Real GDP represents the value of the production of goods and services in the economy and is adjusted for inflation. The third quarter growth in 2016 of 3.2 percent, which includes performance from July, August and September, was an increase from the 1.4 percent growth seen in the second quarter of 2016.
The GDP estimate released Tuesday was revised up from the first estimate of 2.9 percent that the bureau released earlier this year.
"With the second estimate for the third quarter, the general picture of economic growth remains the same; the increase in personal consumption expenditures was larger than previously estimated," the bureau said.
Real GDP in the third quarter of 2016 also increased from the previous year, when GDP expanded at 2.1 percent in the third quarter of 2015, according to the second estimate.
"The increase in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, private inventory investment, and federal government spending, that were partly offset by negative contributions from residential fixed investment and state and local government spending," the bureau said. "Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased."
The bureau will release its third estimate for the third quarter of 2016 on Dec. 22.