Female U.S. auto factory worker
A worker installs parts onto the dashboard for a Chevrolet Cruze as it moves along the assembly line at the General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio, July 22, 2011. Reuters

The U.S. government said on Wednesday that its first estimate of the nation’s second-quarter gross domestic product came in at a stronger-than-expected 1.7 percent, buoyed by solid gains in consumer spending and business investment.

Wall Street economists and analysts had expected the GDP to come in at 1 percent.

The Commerce Department said that overall consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of demand in the economy, rose 1.8 percent during the period while business investment jumped 9 percent.

The report also noted that imports into the U.S., which subtract from GDP, rose by 9.5 percent and federal spending, hit by sequestration in the quarter, fell 1.5 percent.

The Commerce Department revised its estimate for first-quarter GDP down to 1.1 percent from 1.8 percent.

It also revised its GDP number for all of 2012, increasing it to 2.8 percent from the previous 2.2 percent estimate.