The U.S. economy grew more rapidly in the second quarter than an earlier report suggested.

The Commerce Department said today that gross domestic product increased during the April-to-June quarter at a 3.3% annual rate, revised upward from an earlier estimated 2.8% advance. That was stronger than the average 3.0% revised reading expected by economists.

A smaller influx of foreign goods helped drive the revision. The GDP report said imports advanced 12.6% in the second quarter, lower than the 14.1% estimated in the previous report. Exports rose 7.3%; earlier estimates had put that figure at 6.1%.

Businesses increased inventories by $61.1 billion, revised upward from an earlier estimated $57.7 billion boost and much higher than the $40 billion in stock added in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, business spending advanced 12.5%, revised up from a previously estimated 12.1% increase. Equipment and software spending climbed 14.2%.

Meanwhile, after-tax corporate profits were revised to show a 0.7% decrease to $902.7 billion — narrower than the earlier 1.2% drop but still substantially lower than the 3.7% growth seen in the first quarter. Year over year, second-quarter profits were up 18.5% from the same period 12 months earlier.

Spending by consumers, which accounts for about two thirds of U.S. economic activity, rose at a 1.6% annual rate in the second quarter, unchanged from the previous estimate. Spending grew 4.1% in the first quarter.

Inflation gauges in the report were stable. The price index for gross domestic purchases rose at an unrevised 3.5% rate after advancing 3.4% in the first quarter.