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 busi

See Full Page