Second-Quarter GDP Revised Down to 1.6%

The U.S. gross domestic product rose at a revised 1.6% annual rate in the second quarter, down from an originally estimated 2.4%, the Commerce Department said Friday.

The revised rate reflected companies reining in inventories and a widening trade gap, Bloomberg reported. GDP grew in the first quarter at a rate of 3.7%.

The rate was slightly better than economists’ forecasts of a 1.4% growth rate, Bloomberg said.

Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of the economy, rose 2%, better than the previously reported 1.6% pace.

The economy shrank 4.1% from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2009.

Friday’s figure was the second of three; Commerce will revise it one more time.