Upward revision were due to
1. reduced imports
2. increased personal consumption expenditures for services (remember we are a service dominated economy)
3. inventory investment
The upward revision was partially offset by downward revisions due to:
reduced personal consumption expenditures for durable goods.
So people bought fewer durable goods (reducing the GDP), but more than made up for it in Personal Consumption Expenditures for services, along with the reduction in imports.
Net result. More growth than previously thought. The inventory issue is relatively small potatoes, 0.16% of the increase, and has been overblown.
I agree the quarter to quarter trends are not strong, but the 3rd quarter wasn’t as bad as previously thought.
