U.S. economy fared slightly better in Q2 than first reported

Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. economy plunged by nearly 32% in the second quarter of 2020 -- the steepest quarterly decline in history, the Commerce Department said in a revised estimate Thursday.

The loss, however, wasn't as bad as the department reported a month ago in its initial estimate.

The decline in the April-July period was 31.7%, the department said in its second estimate. The first estimate last month showed a decline of 33% for the quarter.

The department said the new estimate is based on "more complete" data.

"With the second estimate, private inventory investment and personal consumption expenditures decreased less than previously estimated," it said.

The domestic economy -- measured by gross domestic product, or GDP -- fell by 5% over the first quarter, before the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"[The crisis] led to rapid shifts in activity, as businesses and schools continued remote work and consumers and businesses canceled, restricted, or redirected their spending," the Commerce Department said. "The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the GDP estimate for the second quarter of 2020 because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified."

Thursday's report said second-quarter losses were partly offset by an increase in federal government spending, mostly from the CARES Act.