US second-quarter GDP growth unexpectedly revised up to 3.8%

This marked the second such revision for the quarterly figure.

The US government revised its second-quarter economic growth rate upwards on Thursday, beating analyst expectations and reflecting stronger consumer spending than earlier estimated.

Gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 3.8 percent in the April to June period, up from the 3.3 percent previously estimated, said the Department of Commerce.

"Real GDP was revised up 0.5 percentage point from the second estimate, primarily reflecting an upward revision to consumer spending," said the department's Bureau of Economic Analysis in a report.

This marked the second such revision for the quarterly figure.

Besides an uptick in consumption, GDP growth in the second quarter this year mainly reflected a drop in imports as well -- these are a subtraction in GDP calculations.

While businesses moved to stock up on inventory early this year in anticipation of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, the rush to do so eased somewhat in the second quarter.

The Commerce Department's latest report also said that real GDP dropped by 0.6 percent in the first quarter.

The figure was revised downwards by 0.1 percentage point on lower than estimated investment, government spending and exports.