Economic Impact Group, LLC Economic Data Brief
 
Growth & spending

Advance Retail Sales — August 2026

Released September 16, 2026 · Census Bureau · full release · charts & history on EconomicsGuru
Retail and food services sales rose 1.2% in August 2026 to $773.9B, +6.0% from a year ago. Prior month: $764.5B. Prior periods were revised in 44 series — figures below reflect that.
Total retail
$773.9B
▲ +1.2% m/m
· +6.0% y/y
Ex autos
$631.6B
▲ +1.4% m/m
· +6.9% y/y
Nonstore
$141.3B
▲ +2.6% m/m
· +9.9% y/y
Restaurants
$105.1B
▲ +1.2% m/m
· +5.8% y/y

Revision check

REVISIONS DETECTED (44) — since last report. Every change below is calculated on the revised figures.
Miscellaneous store retailers · July 2026$16.8B→$16.5B▼ −$0.2B
Furniture and home furnishings · August 2025$11.3B→$11.2B▼ −$0.1B
Gasoline stations · July 2026$59.9B→$60.5B▲ +$0.6B
Electronics and appliances · July 2026$8.1B→$8.2B▲ +$0.1B
Nonstore retailers (e-commerce) · July 2026$136.9B→$137.8B▲ +$0.9B
Building materials and garden · July 2026$42.6B→$42.3B▼ −$0.3B
Clothing and accessories · July 2026$28.3B→$28.2B▼ −$0.1B
Electronics and appliances · August 2025$7.7B→$7.7B▼ $0.0B
Nonstore retailers (e-commerce) · August 2025$129.3B→$128.6B▼ −$0.6B
Gasoline stations · August 2025$51.7B→$51.5B▼ −$0.2B
Miscellaneous store retailers · August 2025$14.7B→$14.8B▲ +$0.1B
Electronics and appliances · June 2026$8.2B→$8.2B▲ $0.0B
Furniture and home furnishings · July 2026$11.3B→$11.3B▼ −$0.1B
Health and personal care · August 2025$40.1B→$40.0B▼ −$0.2B
and 30 more smaller revisions (all of them are applied to the figures below).

Key figures

Headline →August 2026July 2026M/M chgM/M %Y/Y chgY/Y %12-period trend
Retail and food services salesREVISED
millions of dollars, SA
$773.9B$764.5B▲ +$9.5B▲ +1.2%▲ +$43.9B▲ +6.0%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ex motor vehicles and partsREVISED$631.6B$622.9B▲ +$8.7B▲ +1.4%▲ +$41.0B▲ +6.9%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Retail trade (ex food services)REVISED$668.9B$660.6B▲ +$8.2B▲ +1.2%▲ +$38.1B▲ +6.0%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trend bars show year-over-year % change over the last 13 periods; the latest period is highlighted.
Major categories →August 2026July 2026M/M chgM/M %Y/Y chgY/Y %12-period trend
Motor vehicle and parts dealersREVISED$142.4B$141.6B▲ +$0.8B▲ +0.6%▲ +$3.0B▲ +2.1%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gasoline stationsREVISED$62.3B$60.5B▲ +$1.8B▲ +3.1%▲ +$10.8B▲ +21.0%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nonstore retailers (e-commerce)REVISED$141.3B$137.8B▲ +$3.6B▲ +2.6%▲ +$12.7B▲ +9.9%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Food services and drinking placesREVISED$105.1B$103.8B▲ +$1.2B▲ +1.2%▲ +$5.8B▲ +5.8%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
General merchandise storesREVISED$80.4B$79.9B▲ +$0.5B▲ +0.7%▲ +$3.5B▲ +4.5%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Food and beverage storesREVISED$85.6B$85.2B▲ +$0.4B▲ +0.4%▲ +$0.4B▲ +0.5%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Building materials and gardenREVISED$42.2B$42.3B▼ −$0.1B▼ −0.2%▲ +$2.1B▲ +5.1%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trend bars show year-over-year % change for index series, the level for rates and survey indexes over the last 13 periods; the latest period is highlighted.

What stood out

  • Sporting goods, hobby, books: highest level on record (data back to January 2005).
  • General merchandise stores: up 4.5% from a year ago — the fastest pace since February 2023.
  • Electronics and appliances: highest since April 2022 (52 months).
  • The 2.6% monthly gain in Nonstore retailers (e-commerce) is the biggest since February 2025.
  • Clothing and accessories: up 4.3% from a year ago — the slowest pace since February 2025.
  • Furniture and home furnishings: up 1.9% from a year ago — the fastest pace since July 2025.

Full detail

Show every category and subcategory
Full detail — remaining categories →August 2026July 2026M/M chgM/M %Y/Y chgY/Y %
Clothing and accessoriesREVISED$28.4B$28.2B▲ +$0.2B▲ +0.7%▲ +$1.2B▲ +4.3%
Health and personal careREVISED$40.7B$40.4B▲ +$0.4B▲ +0.9%▲ +$0.8B▲ +1.9%
Furniture and home furnishingsREVISED$11.4B$11.3B▲ +$0.1B▲ +0.9%▲ +$0.2B▲ +1.9%
Electronics and appliancesREVISED$8.3B$8.2B▲ +$0.1B▲ +1.6%▲ +$0.6B▲ +7.8%
Sporting goods, hobby, booksREVISED$9.1B$9.0B▲ +$0.1B▲ +1.2%▲ +$0.9B▲ +10.7%
Miscellaneous store retailersREVISED$16.8B$16.5B▲ +$0.3B▲ +1.9%▲ +$2.1B▲ +14.0%

Sources

Economic Impact Group, LLC
Economic research for developing communities
Prepared 2026-09-16 13:21 UTC. Green marks an increase, red a decrease — direction only, not good or bad.