WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.2% from April through June, a substantial upward revision that showed stronger consumer spending and business investment than the government had previously measured.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis said Wednesday that second-quarter gross domestic product was revised up from its earlier estimate of 1.5%. Growth slowed from a revised 2.5% pace in the first quarter, but the new figure was stronger than economists had expected and reinforced evidence that the economy remained resilient during the conflict with Iran and a global energy shock.

Consumer spending, investment and exports contributed to the expansion. Imports increased and therefore subtracted from the GDP calculation because the measure counts production inside the United States. The import surge included computer chips and other equipment connected to heavy investment in artificial intelligence.

Consumer spending, which accounts for roughly 70% of U.S. economic activity, grew at a 3.8% annual pace in the quarter after increasing just 0.7% in the first three months of the year. Business investment excluding housing rose at a 9% rate, reflecting continued spending on technology and AI infrastructure.

A separate BEA report showed that inflation cooled in August but remained elevated. The personal consumption expenditures price index rose 3.4% from a year earlier and 0.3% from July. Excluding food and energy, prices were up 3% over 12 months and 0.2% for the month.

Both annual readings were below economists' expectations, prompting a positive initial reaction in financial markets. They nevertheless remained above the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation target. The central bank raised its benchmark short-term rate two weeks ago for the first time in three years, and the latest data leave policymakers balancing persistent price pressure against the risk of restraining growth too sharply.

Americans kept spending despite those pressures. Current-dollar personal consumption expenditures rose 0.9% in August, while spending adjusted for inflation increased 0.6%. Disposable personal income rose 0.3% in dollar terms, but real disposable income was unchanged. The personal saving rate was 4.1%.

Those figures describe an economy that is expanding, but they also help explain why households can feel worse than the headline GDP number suggests. Spending can rise because people are buying more, because prices are higher, or because families are saving less and using more credit. Growth and financial comfort are related, but they are not the same thing.

Resilience is real, but it is not evenly shared

The revised GDP report is good news for the United States. It argues against claims that the economy has already fallen into a broad contraction, and it shows the power of American consumers, private investment and technological innovation. A country that continues building factories, data centers and advanced computing capacity during a geopolitical shock retains an important strategic advantage.

But the composition of growth deserves scrutiny. AI investment can raise productivity and strengthen American leadership, yet it also concentrates gains in companies, regions and households that own the assets benefiting from the boom. A rising stock market gives wealthier consumers more room to spend, while families living mainly on wages still confront higher food, housing, insurance and energy bills.

Inflation easing from expectations is not the same as prices falling. A 3.4% annual increase means the general price level is still moving upward faster than the Federal Reserve's goal, on top of increases accumulated in previous years. Voters who say the economy feels expensive are describing a real burden even when the national output numbers are solid.

The strongest response is not to talk down the economy or pretend the pressure is imaginary. Washington should expand the productive capacity that makes growth less inflationary: faster energy and infrastructure approvals, reliable power for advanced industry, workforce training and competitive supply chains anchored in the United States and trusted allies.

Policymakers also need discipline. Large promises financed without clear offsets can add demand when supply is already strained. Tariffs may serve national-security goals in strategic sectors, particularly where authoritarian competitors subsidize production, but broad costs passed to American buyers should be measured honestly rather than hidden behind slogans.

The Federal Reserve now has evidence for caution in both directions. Growth is stronger than previously thought, so there is no obvious case for emergency support. Inflation is cooler than feared, so there is also reason to examine incoming data before assuming every price increase requires another rate hike.

America's economy is proving durable. The harder task is turning that durability into broader purchasing power. Success will not be measured only by whether GDP rises, but by whether productive investment eventually produces better wages, lower real costs and opportunity that reaches families outside the technology and financial centers driving much of the current expansion.