The U.S. economy grew at a sluggish 1.5% pace from April through June, according to the Commerce Department. This marks a slowdown from the 2.1% growth in the first quarter. However, consumer spending remained strong, as reported by infohub.kz.
The department's report showed that gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter was unchanged from its initial estimate. Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity, rose at a 3.4% annual rate, up from 0.5% in the January-March period.
The sluggish growth was largely due to imports, which are subtracted from GDP because it only counts domestic production. Imports rose at a 12.5% annual pace in the second quarter, slicing 1.64 percentage points off growth. This was partly due to a surge in shipments of computer chips and other products supporting artificial intelligence investment.
Business investment increased, reflecting the AI boom. The U.S. economy has shown surprising resilience despite the conflict with Iran and the resulting spike in energy prices.
Wednesday's report was the second of three Commerce Department estimates for second-quarter GDP growth. The third and final report is due Sept. 30.