September 30, 2026. The U.S. economy grew at a 2.2% annual rate in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s third estimate released Wednesday. That is 0.7 percentage point above the previous estimate of 1.5%. The period measured is April through June; the release does not describe growth during September.
Why the estimate moved higher
BEA attributed the upward revision mainly to new or revised data on investment, consumer spending and government spending. It said revisions to private inventories and fixed investment both contributed to the change, with updated Census Bureau inventory and construction data among the sources. Consumer spending revisions reflected both services and goods. The second-quarter expansion was supported by consumer spending, investment and exports, while imports increased and are subtracted in calculating GDP.
The 2.2% figure is a seasonally adjusted annual rate: it expresses the quarter’s pace as if that rate continued for a year. It is not a 2.2% increase from April to June alone. BEA reports the corresponding quarter-to-quarter gain as about 0.6%. First-quarter growth was also revised to 2.5%, from a previously published 2.1%, as part of the agency’s annual update.
Other measures in the release
Real gross domestic income, an alternative measure based on incomes rather than spending, rose at a 2.6% annual rate in the second quarter, revised up from 2.2%. Real final sales to private domestic purchasers increased 4.6%, revised up from 4.2%. BEA also reported that real GDP increased in 44 states and the District of Columbia, with state annual rates ranging from 4.0% growth in New York to a 2.3% decline in West Virginia. Those state results refer to the same April–June quarter.
The release incorporates broader annual revisions back to 2021, so comparisons with older vintage data need care. A revised GDP estimate is a better measurement of past activity, not evidence by itself of what caused current market movements or what the next quarter will show. For a newer monthly reading, see AskNovus’s August income, spending and inflation report. BEA plans its advance estimate for third-quarter GDP on October 29.
Sources: BEA third estimate of second-quarter 2026 GDP, released September 30, 2026; BEA GDP data page. Featured image: Peter Beke / Unsplash, illustrative skyline photograph.