The U.S. economy surged between April and June after shrinking in the first three months of the year, driven by a large shift in imports tied to President Trump’s trade policies.
By the numbers
The country’s GDP increased at an annual rate of 3% in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That’s higher than the 2% pace the GDP was forecast to grow for the April-to-June period, according to economists polled by financial data firm FactSet.
The number represents a surprising turnaround from the first three months of 2025, when GDP fell 0.5%, the worst quarterly performance for the U.S. economy since early 2022. The new data also shows consumers increased spending since the last quarter, with a growth of 1.4%, up from 0.5% from January to March but still down significantly from 4% in the final quarter of 2024.
What the numbers mean
GDP data offers a broad yardstick for measuring the overall health of the economy.
GDP slumped in the first quarter, falling 0.5% from January to March, largely due to a surge in U.S. imports as consumers and businesses rushed to buy goods from abroad before stepped-up tariffs took effect.
The latest data shows that in the second quarter, from April to June, that trend started to shift with a large drop off in imports and a rise in exports — signaling that the United States is closing the trade gap President Trump has repeatedly cited as the basis for his tariff policy.
Still, analysts note that if you combine the 3% growth rate in GDP in the second quarter with the 0.5% decline in first-quarter, the average growth rate for the first six months of 2025 is 1.25%.
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