WASHINGTON — U.S. retail and food-service sales increased 0.8% in September to an estimated $745 billion, according to Census Bureau figures released Thursday, Oct. 15.
Sales were 6.3% higher than in September 2025. The bureau also revised August’s monthly increase to 1.3%, up from the previously reported 1.1%, indicating that the new September estimate follows a stronger August than initially measured.
Gasoline-station sales rose an estimated 6.4% from August, while food-service and drinking-place sales increased 1.1%. Sales excluding motor-vehicle and parts dealers advanced 0.9%.
The figures are adjusted for seasonal patterns and differences in holidays and trading days, but not for changes in prices. That means a larger dollar total does not, by itself, show that shoppers purchased more goods or that household buying power improved.
The release is an advance national estimate, not a report of sales at St. Louis businesses. It also should not be read as a complete measure of consumer spending, which includes services beyond the retail and food-service businesses covered here.
The bureau reported a 90% confidence margin of 0.4 percentage points around September’s monthly increase. The advance estimates can change as additional survey information becomes available.
For July through September combined, sales were 5.5% above the same period in 2025. The next monthly retail-sales release is scheduled for Nov. 17.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau: Oct. 15 September sales release; Advance Monthly Retail Trade Report, September 2026 (PDF).
