BEA begins annual update to GDP accounts
The revision revisits second-quarter growth already published at 1.5%, the same rate as the advance estimate.
Published
Chart: US real GDP, annualised change on the quarter
The Bureau of Economic Analysis begins its 2026 annual update to the national, industry and regional economic accounts today, the agency said, the first time the review has started on the same day across all three sets of data.
The update revisits growth already reported for the second quarter. BEA's second estimate, released August 26, put Q2 GDP growth at 1.5%, unchanged from the advance estimate. Consumer spending, exports and investment contributed to that growth, offset by a decline in government spending.
That marked a slowdown from the first quarter, when GDP grew 2.1%, as government spending fell and investment and exports decelerated, partly offset by stronger consumer spending, according to BEA.
BEA also reported that real gross domestic income, a separate measure that tracks the economy from the income side rather than spending, rose 2.2% in the second quarter, up from 1.2% in the first. The gap between the two gauges, one pointing to a slowdown and the other to an acceleration, gives analysts two different readings of the economy's momentum, and means any conclusions drawn from a single figure, including assumptions about consumer spending or inventories, may need rechecking once the annual update is complete.