(Washington) Second-quarter U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth was an annualized 2.1 percent, according to the Commerce Department’s third and final estimate released Thursday, unchanged from the second estimate.

Simply comparing to the previous quarter, as other advanced economies do, growth is 0.5%.

Growth was surprisingly strong in the second quarter, accelerating from 2.0% in the first quarter, when analysts saw it slowing or, at best, remaining stable.

In 2022, the growth of American economic activity had slowed to 2.1%, after having experienced in 2021 the strongest growth since 1984 (5.9%), and in 2020 the largest decline in GDP since 1946 (- 3.5%) and two months of recession due to COVID-19.