The U.S. Commerce Department has revised gross domestic product figures for the 2nd quarter upward to 3.1 percent.

The agency had previously reported an annual growth rate of 2.4 percent for the period from April through June.
According to the Commerce Deparment, the 0.7 percentage-point improvement to GDP reflected more military spending for the Iraq war and more spending by consumers and businesses than the government previously thought. The revised second quarter reading was stronger than the 2.9 percent growth rate economists were expecting and marked the economy's best performance since the third quarter of 2002.
The rebound came after two straight quarters of anemic economic growth. GDP, which measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States, increased at just a 1.4 percent pace in the final quarter of 2002 and the first three months of this year.
Amid signs of an economic rebound, the Federal Reserve earlier this month decided to hold a key short-term interest rate at a 45-year low of 1 percent and hinted that the rate may stay at this low level for some time.
Economists are predicting that the economy will pick up speed in the second half of this year, with some estimating that growth will clock in at an annual rate of 3.5 percent or more.
After-tax profits of U.S. corporations fell by 3.4 percent in the second quarter, compared with a 3.8 percent increase in the first quarter, the GDP report said.
Consumer spending grew at a 3.8 percent pace in the second quarter, up from a 3.3 percent growth rate previously estimated. Much of that pickup reflected more brisk spending on big-ticket goods, such as cars and appliances. Consumer spending on durable goods grew at sizable 24.1 percent rate, the biggest increase since the end of 2001.
Businesses increased spending in the second quarter on equipment and software at an 8.2 percent pace, up from the 7.5 percent growth rate previously reported, and a turnaround from the cut in such spending made during the first quarter of this year.
And, after six straight quarters of cutting spending on plants and other structures, businesses increased such investment in the second quarter at a 7.1 percent rate, also stronger than the 4.8 percent growth rate first estimated for the quarter.