WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. economic growth in the second quarter was revised upward to the fastest pace in more than two years due to stronger personal consumption and business investment, data from the Commerce Department showed on Wednesday.
U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 3 percent in the second quarter of this year, revised upward from an initial estimate of 2.6 percent last month, the Commerce Department said.
It was the strongest quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2015, following a lackluster 1.2 percent growth in the previous quarter.
"With this second estimate for the second quarter, the general picture of economic growth remains the same; an increase in personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and in nonresidential fixed investment were larger than previously estimated," the Commerce Department said in a statement.
Personal consumption expenditures, which account for about two-thirds of the U.S. economy, increased at an annual rate of 3.3 percent in the second quarter of the year, up from an initial estimate of 2.8 percent growth.
Nonresidential fixed investment, a measure of corporate spending on structures and equipment, climbed at a pace of 6.9 percent in the second quarter, up from 5.2 percent previously reported.
With this upward revision, the overall economy grew 2.1 percent on average in the first half of 2017. While the Trump administration has vowed to accelerate annual U.S. economic growth to over 3 percent, many economists expect the U.S. economy to continue growing at around 2 percent this year.
The Trump administration hasn't yet passed any legislation to boost U.S. economic growth during the past six months, and details of tax reform and infrastructure investment plans remain undecided.
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