US real gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 1.1% in the second quarter, according to the second estimate of GDP growth by the US Commerce Department. The new estimate is down from an “advance” estimate that pegged growth at 1.2%.

In the first quarter, real GDP edged up 0.8%.

MarketWatch reports corporate profits fall for the fifth time in six quarters. However, hiring accelerated during the summer, manufacturers have shown some improvement and the slumping US energy industry appears to have stabilized.

“The second-quarter GDP report was disappointing, but growth should bounce back in the third quarter,” Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services, told MarketWatch.

Jason Furman, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, also commented on the GDP number in a blog post.

“Second-quarter economic growth was revised to 1.1% at an annual rate, down slightly (0.1 percentage point) from the advance estimate,” Furman wrote. “Consumer spending grew strongly at 4.4% in the second quarter — its second-fastest quarterly growth since 2006 — and, in contrast to the pattern in recent quarters, net exports also added to GDP. Some of this growth was offset by a large decline in inventory investment (one of the most volatile components of GDP), along with declines in business fixed investment, residential investment, and government spending. Overall, second-quarter growth in the most stable and persistent components of output — consumption and fixed investment — was revised up to 3.0%.”