Economic Impact Group, LLC Economic Data Brief
 
Growth & spending

Advance Retail Sales — September 2026

Released October 15, 2026 · Census Bureau · full release · charts & history on EconomicsGuru
Retail and food services sales rose 0.8% in September 2026 to $745.0B, +6.3% from a year ago. Prior month: $739.3B. Prior periods were revised in 192 series — figures below reflect that.
Total retail
$745.0B
▲ +0.8% m/m
· +6.3% y/y
Ex autos
$605.2B
▲ +0.9% m/m
· +7.2% y/y
Nonstore
$124.3B
▲ +0.3% m/m
· +8.2% y/y
Restaurants
$92.9B
▲ +1.1% m/m
· +7.0% y/y

Revision check

REVISIONS DETECTED (192) — since last report. Every change below is calculated on the revised figures.
Food services and drinking places · September 2025$99.8B→$86.8B▼ −$13.0B
Food services and drinking places · October 2025$99.7B→$86.9B▼ −$12.8B
Food services and drinking places · June 2026$103.3B→$90.1B▼ −$13.2B
Food services and drinking places · November 2025$100.2B→$87.4B▼ −$12.8B
Food services and drinking places · December 2025$99.9B→$87.1B▼ −$12.7B
Food services and drinking places · May 2026$102.6B→$89.5B▼ −$13.1B
Food services and drinking places · July 2026$103.8B→$90.7B▼ −$13.2B
Food services and drinking places · February 2026$100.2B→$87.6B▼ −$12.7B
Food services and drinking places · January 2026$99.6B→$87.0B▼ −$12.6B
Food services and drinking places · August 2026$105.1B→$91.9B▼ −$13.2B
Nonstore retailers (e-commerce) · April 2026$138.0B→$120.8B▼ −$17.3B
Food services and drinking places · March 2026$100.2B→$87.8B▼ −$12.4B
Food services and drinking places · April 2026$101.3B→$88.7B▼ −$12.6B
Nonstore retailers (e-commerce) · August 2026$141.3B→$123.9B▼ −$17.4B
and 178 more smaller revisions (all of them are applied to the figures below).

Key figures

Headline →September 2026August 2026M/M chgM/M %Y/Y chgY/Y %12-period trend
Retail and food services salesREVISED
millions of dollars, SA
$745.0B$739.3B▲ +$5.7B▲ +0.8%▲ +$44.1B▲ +6.3%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ex motor vehicles and partsREVISED$605.2B$599.8B▲ +$5.4B▲ +0.9%▲ +$40.6B▲ +7.2%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Retail trade (ex food services)REVISED$652.1B$647.4B▲ +$4.7B▲ +0.7%▲ +$38.0B▲ +6.2%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trend bars show year-over-year % change over the last 13 periods; the latest period is highlighted.
Major categories →September 2026August 2026M/M chgM/M %Y/Y chgY/Y %12-period trend
Motor vehicle and parts dealersREVISED$139.8B$139.5B▲ +$0.3B▲ +0.2%▲ +$3.5B▲ +2.5%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gasoline stationsREVISED$68.0B$64.0B▲ +$4.1B▲ +6.4%▲ +$14.9B▲ +28.1%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nonstore retailers (e-commerce)REVISED$124.3B$123.9B▲ +$0.4B▲ +0.3%▲ +$9.4B▲ +8.2%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Food services and drinking placesREVISED$92.9B$91.9B▲ +$1.0B▲ +1.1%▲ +$6.1B▲ +7.0%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
General merchandise storesREVISED$81.8B$81.8B▼ −$0.1B▼ −0.1%▲ +$3.3B▲ +4.2%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Food and beverage storesREVISED$85.1B$84.7B▲ +$0.3B▲ +0.4%▲ +$0.8B▲ +0.9%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Building materials and gardenREVISED$44.1B$44.3B▼ −$0.2B▼ −0.6%▲ +$1.9B▲ +4.5%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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

  • Gasoline stations: highest level on record (data back to January 2005).
  • Ex motor vehicles and parts: up 7.2% from a year ago — the fastest pace since October 2022.
  • Food services and drinking places: up 7.0% from a year ago — the fastest pace since March 2023.
  • Electronics and appliances: up 9.4% from a year ago — the fastest pace since December 2021.
  • Furniture and home furnishings: up 4.9% from a year ago — the fastest pace since July 2025.
  • The 3.0% monthly drop in Miscellaneous store retailers is the biggest since August 2025.

Full detail

Show every category and subcategory
Full detail — remaining categories →September 2026August 2026M/M chgM/M %Y/Y chgY/Y %
Clothing and accessoriesREVISED$26.5B$26.5B▼ $0.0B▼ 0.0%▲ +$1.3B▲ +5.0%
Health and personal careREVISED$39.5B$39.2B▲ +$0.3B▲ +0.7%▼ −$0.5B▼ −1.2%
Furniture and home furnishingsREVISED$10.7B$10.6B▲ +$0.1B▲ +1.3%▲ +$0.5B▲ +4.9%
Electronics and appliancesREVISED$7.9B$7.8B▲ $0.0B▲ +0.6%▲ +$0.7B▲ +9.4%
Sporting goods, hobby, booksREVISED$8.7B$8.7B▼ $0.0B▼ −0.5%▲ +$0.8B▲ +9.6%
Miscellaneous store retailersREVISED$15.8B$16.3B▼ −$0.5B▼ −3.0%▲ +$1.6B▲ +10.9%

Sources

Economic Impact Group, LLC
Economic research for developing communities
Prepared 2026-10-15 13:22 UTC. Green marks an increase, red a decrease — direction only, not good or bad.