The U.S. GDP Q2 2026 report shows that the U.S. economy kept growing in the second quarter of 2026, just not as fast as before. GDP grew by 1.5%, down from 2.1% in the first quarter. The slowdown came mainly from weaker government spending, less investment, and fewer exports. However, consumer spending helped soften the blow, but it wasn’t enough to keep growth at the same pace as the quarter before.
Over the last two and a half years, GDP number has moved around a lot. Some quarters looked great. One quarter actually went negative. And the most recent numbers show growth cooling off again.
Key Takeaways
- Weaker government spending, less investment, and fewer exports reduced growth, but stronger consumer spending helped support the economy.
- The economy briefly shrank in early 2025, then bounced back hard just a few months later.
- The U.S. economy grew 1.5% in the second quarter of 2026, slowing from 2.1% in the first quarter.
U.S. GDP Q2 2026
The table below shows the U.S. GDP Q2 2026 and historical U.S. GDP growth by quarter, shown as a percentage. The data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), which publishes the country’s official GDP statistics.
| Year | Quarter | GDP Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Q1 | 0.8 |
| 2024 | Q2 | 3.6 |
| 2024 | Q3 | 3.3 |
| 2024 | Q4 | 1.9 |
| 2025 | Q1 | -0.6 |
| 2025 | Q2 | 3.8 |
| 2025 | Q3 | 4.4 |
| 2025 | Q4 | 0.5 |
| 2026 | Q1 | 2.1 |
| 2026 | Q2 | 1.5 |
Why Did Growth Slow?
Growth came in at 2.1% in the first quarter of 2026, then eased slightly to 1.5% in the second quarter. Neither of these numbers is alarming. They’re not the sky-high growth of mid-2025, but they’re also nowhere near the contraction seen in early 2025.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the biggest reason growth slowed down was that the government spent less money. When the government cuts back on spending, it drags down the overall growth number.
Businesses also invested less than they had in the previous quarter. On top of that, U.S. companies sold fewer goods and services to other countries, so exports weakened too.
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2025
The first quarter of 2025 didn’t just slow down, it went negative, at -0.6%. A negative number means the economy actually shrank during that period.
But the very next quarter flipped the story completely. Growth surged to 3.8%, and then climbed even higher in quarter three, hitting 4.4%, the strongest quarter in this entire dataset. Then, it dropped back down to 0.5% in the final quarter of the year.
GDP Growth in 2024
The year 2024 opened weak. In the first quarter of 2024, growth came in at just 0.8%, a pretty sluggish number by historical standards. But things picked up fast. Quarter two jumped to 3.6%, and quarter three held nearly as strong at 3.3%. Then growth eased off again in the last quarter of the year, settling at 1.9%.
The Bottom Line
The latest U.S. GDP Q2 2026 numbers show the U.S. economy is still growing, just more slowly than before. Consumer spending is doing most of the heavy lifting right now, while weaker government spending, slower business investment, and softer exports are holding things back. Whether this slowdown is just a temporary dip or the start of a longer cooling period will become clearer in the next few quarters.
