The government's second estimate of GDP showed a rebound in corporate profits as businesses benefited from strong consumer spending.
Consumers increased spending while exporters and manufacturers cut back.
The Trump administration now believes the government shutdown will subtract 0.1 percentage point from GDP growth every week.
A weaker inventory buildup than first estimated could bode well for second-quarter gross domestic product numbers.
The ever-widening gap between employers' needs and workers' skills could drive massive lost financial opportunities over the next decade-plus.
Economists expect the GOP tax cuts to give a boost to GDP in Q2 but the economy may still fall short of President Trump's 3% target this year.
The IMF urges countries to "build fiscal buffers now by reducing government deficits and putting debt on a steady downward path."
The economy fell short of a third straight quarter of growth of 3% or more, in part because of a 13.9% surge in imports.
The 2.6% gain in Q2 GDP does not mean President Trump "is on track to deliver on his promise of sustained annual growth of more than 3 percent."
"Economic indicators so far aren't entirely convincing on a second-quarter bounce in activity," one economist says.
The sluggish GDP report "marks a rough start to the [Trump] administration's high hopes of achieving 3 percent or better growth."
U.S. retail sales rose only 0.1% in February but are still 3.7% higher in the first two months of 2017 than the same period last year.
