US Q2 GDP exceeded expectations, performing quite well.

Among the four major drivers of GDP growth—household demand, corporate investment, government spending, and external demand—corporate investment continued to rise this quarter. Particularly, as residential investment turned negative quarter-on-quarter, companies increased inventory investment, indicating that US firms have ended destocking and that restocking is now contributing positively to economic growth.

Meanwhile, household consumption remained surprisingly resilient—goods consumption turned positive quarter-on-quarter, while the slowdown in service consumption growth was slower than expected. Overall, consumption contributed 1.6 percentage points to the 2.8% annualized growth rate.

Additionally, driven by deficits, government spending also increased this quarter, contributing 0.5 percentage points to Q2 growth through government investment and consumption.

Excluding external demand, which has consistently been a drag, the three economic sectors collectively drove growth by 2.8 percentage points, significantly surpassing market expectations.