Real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an annualized rate of 4.0 percent in the second quarter of 2014, according to the advance GDP report, but the contraction in first quarter GDP, previously estimated at 2.9 percent, was revised down to a less severe 2.1 percent. This turnaround marks the largest improvement between two consecutive quarters since the change from the first to second quarter of 2000. The strong growth was attributed to improvements in all GDP components, with especially large contributions from consumer spending and private inventory investment. The annual revision of the national income and product accounts led to decreased estimates of GDP growth for 2011 and 2012 by 0.2 and 0.5 percentage point, respectively, and increased the estimate for 2013 by 0.3 percentage point.

Contributions to Real GDP Growth, quarterly, percent, seasonally adjusted annualized rate