Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.7% in Q2/15, marking a major stride forward in comparison to the 0.6% growth rate in Q1/15, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The GDP recorded during the quarter also dwarfed the 2.3% estimate that the BEA released last month. The increase in real GDP in the second quarter reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures, exports, state and local government spending, nonresidential fixed investment, residential fixed investment and private inventory investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, also increased.

According to the BEA, the acceleration in real GDP in Q2/15 reflected an upturn in exports as well as an acceleration in PCE, a deceleration in imports, an upturn in state and local government spending, and an acceleration in nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by decelerations in private inventory investment, in federal government spending and in residential fixed investment.

Real gross domestic income increased 0.6% in Q2/15, compared with an increase of 0.4% in the Q1/15. The average of real GDP and real GDI, a supplemental measure of U.S. economic activity that equally weights GDP and GDI, increased 2.1% in Q2/15, compared with an increase of 0.5% in Q1/15.