The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) put real gross domestic product growth at a 2.2% annual rate in its third estimate for 2026’s second quarter, released September 30. The second estimate had been 1.5%, so the new reading was revised up 0.7 percentage point. The annualized rate is not the same as the actual change from one quarter to the next: BEA’s technical notes also report that quarterly increase as 0.6%. Annualization expresses the three-month pace as if it continued for a year; it does not mean the economy grew 2.2% over a completed year.

The upward revision mainly reflected higher estimates for investment, consumer spending and government spending. Consumer spending, investment and exports contributed to real GDP growth; imports also rose and are subtracted in the GDP calculation. Real final sales to private domestic purchasers increased at a 4.6% annual rate. That measure combines consumer spending and private fixed investment, so it is not identical to GDP. Imports and inventory movements can affect the production total differently from spending by domestic final purchasers, making it useful to keep the measures distinct rather than treat one as a replacement for the other.

Industry details showed contributions from both private services and goods-producing businesses. Real value added rose at annual rates of 2.5% for private services-producing industries and 2.3% for private goods-producing industries; government increased less than 0.1%. Real estate and rental and leasing, information, durable-goods manufacturing, and finance and insurance were leading contributors. Transportation and warehousing, retail trade, and nondurable-goods manufacturing were offsets. These industry figures describe the composition of output, not employment, the number of firms or profits. A positive contribution from an industry does not mean every business within it expanded.

State GDP in the same release revealed a wide regional range. Real GDP increased in 44 states and the District of Columbia in the second quarter. State annualized growth rates ranged from 4.0% in New York to minus 2.3% in West Virginia. Finance and insurance led contributions in New York and Delaware, while mining was the leading source of decline in West Virginia and Wyoming. These state rates annualize the quarter’s seasonally adjusted movement; they are not cumulative growth actually realized over a full year in each state.

Current-dollar personal income also rose at a 4.7% annual rate nationally in the second quarter, increasing in 49 states and the District of Columbia. The state range extended from 6.4% growth in Wisconsin to a 4.2% decline in North Dakota. Earnings rose in 48 states and the District, while North Dakota’s earnings fell 9.3%. These are current-dollar income changes, not inflation-adjusted or per-person figures. BEA also reported nominal state personal consumption expenditure growth in every state for calendar year 2025; that separate annual result should not be confused with real quarterly GDP in 2026.

The third estimate is a revised data vintage issued as part of BEA’s annual accounts update. The update covered national and regional accounts from the first quarter of 2021 through the first quarter of 2026. For second-quarter GDP, revisions included both fixed investment and inventory investment, new and updated survey information on consumer spending, and seasonal factors for federal defense spending. The difference between the second and third estimates therefore does not mean activity itself changed after the quarter ended; the statistical estimate incorporated additional source data. Earlier quarters were also revised in the annual update.

Interpretation requires separating the annualized national rate, the actual quarterly movement and the state-level rankings. The third estimate includes more source information available after the quarter closed, but national accounts can still be revised as data improve. The release shows that an upward revision to the national total does not imply uniform growth across every state or industry. Later vintages may alter individual components again. Comparisons should therefore retain the reference period, growth convention and release vintage, rather than treating the latest decimal as a permanent measure of economic performance.