U.S. GDP Growth Slowed in Second Quarter of 2026

Still, the G.D.P. report showed that overall consumption remained relatively healthy and business investment, especially related to the artificial intelligence boom, continued to plow forward. An underlying “core” measure of growth, which captures the sum of consumer spending and gross private investment, increased 3.9 percent in the second quarter, compared with 1.7 percent in the first quarter.

“Underlying growth was strong,” said Eric Wallerstein, a former adviser at the Federal Reserve and the chief macro strategist at the Clocktower Group, an asset management and advisory firm. Still, he added, “real incomes and spending have been trending lower.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/business/economy/us-economy-gdp-growth.html