September Retail Sales Mark 12Th Month Of Steady Growth

TL;DR

Before you orderOffer from Amazon

Get backup power and energy gear delivered free with Prime

• Fast, free delivery on millions of items
• Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
• Member-only deals all year

Start your free Prime trial →Free trial for eligible customers · Cancel anytime

As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.Hide

Retail sales excluding auto dealers and gasoline stations reached $560.8 billion in September, up 0.28% from August and 4.05% from a year earlier, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor. It was the 12th consecutive month of growth, while the report said higher gasoline prices continued to weigh on household budgets.

U.S. retail sales rose for a 12th consecutive month in September, reaching $560.8 billion after a 0.28% monthly increase, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor released October 8 by the National Retail Federation. The data point to continued consumer spending after back-to-school shopping, even as the report says higher gasoline prices were taking a larger share of household budgets.

The September total excludes sales at automobile dealers and gasoline stations. On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales were up 4.05% from September 2025. Both measures were higher than the corresponding August growth rates: 0.22% month over month and 3.87% year over year. The figures describe sales growth, but do not by themselves show how much of the increase came from prices versus the number of goods sold.

The Retail Monitor’s narrower measure of core retail sales, which also excludes restaurants, totaled $453.1 billion. It rose 0.27% month over month and 3.73% year over year in September, compared with growth of 0.17% and 3.47%, respectively, in August.

Sales in the building and garden supply sector reached $44.0 billion. That was a 0.07% increase from August and a 2.66% increase from a year earlier. The source report did not provide further detail on which products or types of retailers drove the sector’s results.

Growth Continues as Budgets Tighten

The data suggest that retail spending continued to expand across the measures reported, but the monthly gains were modest. For consumers, the report’s account of higher fuel costs absorbing more of household budgets points to a pressure that can limit money available for other purchases. It does not quantify that effect or establish how consumers changed their spending in response.

For retailers, sustained sales growth is a sign that shoppers continued to spend, while the comments attributed to NRF chief executive Matthew Shay indicate that retailers were using promotions and value pricing to appeal to budget-conscious households. The figures may inform business planning, but they are not a measure of retailers’ profits, inflation-adjusted purchasing volumes or individual household finances.

How September Compared With August

The report’s main comparison is with August 2026. The month-over-month growth rate for total retail sales excluding auto dealers and gasoline stations edged up from 0.22% in August to 0.28% in September. Year-over-year growth for that measure increased from 3.87% to 4.05%. Core sales also posted higher reported growth rates than in August, both monthly and annually.

The figures come from the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, as reported by Hardware Retailing on October 8. The source presents seasonally adjusted sales totals and percentage changes. It also reports the building and garden supply sector separately, a relevant measure for hardware and home-improvement businesses. The supplied report does not include a broader breakdown by other retail categories.

What the Sales Figures Leave Open

The figures do not show how much September’s sales growth reflected higher prices rather than increased quantities purchased. The source also does not provide category-by-category results beyond building and garden supplies, or a numerical estimate of how gasoline costs affected household spending. Shay’s remarks offer the NRF’s assessment of consumer behavior and retailer strategy, but the supplied data do not independently measure those factors.

The report gives seasonally adjusted figures, but does not include further methodological detail in the supplied material. It is also unclear from this report how the sales trend will develop in subsequent months or whether September’s growth was evenly distributed across retailers and households.

Watch the Next Monthly Retail Reading

The next useful comparison will be the following monthly Retail Monitor release, which can show whether the reported growth continues and how the monthly and annual rates change. Readers can also compare future results for core retail sales and building and garden supplies with September’s figures. No next release date or additional forecast is provided in the source material, so the timing and direction of the next update are not confirmed here.

Key Questions

How much did retail sales increase in September?

The Retail Monitor reported a 0.28% month-over-month increase and a 4.05% year-over-year increase for sales excluding automobile dealers and gasoline stations, on a seasonally adjusted basis.

What does the report mean by core retail sales?

In this report, core retail sales exclude restaurants, automobile dealers and gasoline stations. The measure totaled $453.1 billion in September and rose 0.27% from August.

Did building and garden supply sales grow?

Yes. The sector recorded $44.0 billion in September sales, up 0.07% from August and 2.66% from a year earlier, according to the Retail Monitor figures cited in the report.

What remains uncertain about the September figures?

The supplied report does not separate sales growth caused by higher prices from growth caused by more goods being sold. It also does not quantify the effect of gasoline prices on household budgets or provide detailed results for most retail categories.

Source: rss