The U.S. economy expanded at a slower pace in the second quarter as consumer spending cooled, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all goods and services, grew at a 1.5 percent annual rate, according to the department's "advance" estimate, a deceleration from the upwardly revised 2 percent in the first quarter.

The sluggish quarterly growth rate was basically in line with market expectations. The median forecast by economists surveyed showed an estimated pace of 1.4 percent.

The moderating pace of economic growth mainly reflected a deceleration in consumer spending and an acceleration in imports from April through June.

Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the U.S. economy, grew 1.5 percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 2.4 percent in the first, the department said.

Real exports of goods and services increased 5.3 percent in the second quarter, higher than the rate of 4.4 percent in the first quarter. Real imports rose 6 percent, significantly higher than the 3.1 percent increase in the previous quarter.

Real nonresidential fixed investment increased 5.3 percent in the second quarter, in contrast to a rise of 7.5 percent in the previous quarter.

The change in real private inventories added 0.32 percentage points to the second-quarter change in real GDP after subtracting 0.39 percentage points from the first-quarter GDP change, the department reported.

The U.S. government curbed its spending cuts, which helped soften the blow. Its real consumption expenditures and gross investment decreased 0.4 percent in the second quarter, compared with a decrease of 4.2 percent in the first.