Economic Buzz: US Real GDP rises 1.5% in June quarter, consumer spending firms up

The US real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2026, according to the advance estimate released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). In the first quarter, real GDP increased 2.1 percent. The contributors to the increase in real GDP in the second quarter were increases in consumer spending, investment, and exports that were partly offset by a decrease in government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

Compared to the first quarter, the deceleration in real GDP in the second quarter reflected a downturn in government spending and decelerations in investment and exports that were partly offset by an acceleration in consumer spending. Imports increased more in the second quarter than in the first quarter. Real final sales to private domestic purchasers, the sum of consumer spending and gross private fixed investment, increased 3.9 percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 1.7 percent in the first quarter.

The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 5.7 percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 3.6 percent in the first quarter. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 5.1 percent, compared with an increase of 4.6 percent, and the PCE price index excluding food and energy increased 3.4 percent, compared with an increase of 4.4 percent.

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