September Retail Sales Mark 12Th Month Of Steady Growth

TL;DR

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U.S. retail sales excluding auto dealers and gas stations reached $560.8 billion in September, up 0.28% from August and 4.05% from a year earlier. The CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor also showed growth in its core-sales measure and a smaller year-over-year increase for building and garden supply sales.

U.S. retail sales increased for a 12th consecutive month in September, reaching $560.8 billion excluding auto dealers and gasoline stations, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor released October 8 by the National Retail Federation. Sales rose 0.28% from August and 4.05% from September 2025, in seasonally adjusted figures, even as higher gasoline prices put pressure on household budgets, the NRF said.

The September month-over-month increase was higher than August’s 0.22%, while year-over-year growth also picked up from 3.87% in August to 4.05%. The figures cover retail sales excluding auto dealers and gasoline stations. They are estimates from the Retail Monitor, rather than a count of every retail transaction.

A narrower measure that also excludes restaurants put September core retail sales at $453.1 billion. That measure rose 0.27% month over month and 3.73% year over year. In August, core sales were up 0.17% from the previous month and 3.47% from a year earlier, according to the monitor.

Sales in the building and garden supply sector totaled $44.0 billion in September. The monitor recorded a 0.07% increase from August and a 2.66% gain from September 2025. Those figures provide a sector-specific indicator for hardware and home-improvement retailers, but the source report does not break out results by individual businesses or explain the causes of the sector’s growth.

What the Growth Says About Spending

The 12-month run of increases indicates that retail spending continued to expand through September, despite pressure from gasoline costs cited by the NRF. The year-over-year increase was also larger than the reported August rate, offering retailers evidence that overall sales remained higher than a year earlier. These totals do not, by themselves, show how much growth came from more purchases versus changes in prices.

For hardware and garden retailers, the sector figures show modest month-to-month growth and a larger increase compared with September 2025. The data may inform business planning, but it does not establish how sales were distributed among product categories, regions or types of store. The NRF’s comments point to a consumer environment in which affordability remains a concern even while sales continue to rise.

How September Compared With August

The figures come from the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor, released by the National Retail Federation. The source report identifies the sales totals and percentage changes as seasonally adjusted. Its headline retail measure excludes auto dealers and gasoline stations; its core measure excludes restaurants as well.

Both measures recorded faster year-over-year growth in September than in August: 4.05% versus 3.87% for the broader measure, and 3.73% versus 3.47% for core sales. The reported month-over-month rates also increased between those months. The source describes September as the 12th straight month of growth, but does not provide the full monthly series in the material used for this report.

What the Sales Figures Do Not Show

The source report does not provide detailed sales data by retailer, region or product category beyond the building and garden supply sector. It also does not quantify how gasoline prices affected spending, or separate changes in prices from changes in the volume of goods sold. The NRF’s comments about budget-conscious households and retailer pricing are attributed assessments, not measurements included in the reported sales totals.

The supplied report does not state whether these figures will be revised, give a forecast for the following month or explain the methodology behind the Retail Monitor beyond its exclusions and seasonal adjustment. The reported growth should not be treated as a prediction of future sales.

Next Retail Data to Watch

The next point for comparison will be the Retail Monitor’s subsequent monthly release, which can show whether the reported run of growth continued after September. Readers will also be able to compare updated sector results for building and garden supply with the September total of $44.0 billion. No release date or forecast for the next report is given in the source material.

For now, the available data establish that sales increased in September under both the broader and core measures. How spending responds to ongoing household budget pressures, and whether September’s pace carries into later months, remains to be seen.

Key Questions

How much did retail sales rise in September?

The CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor reported that sales excluding auto dealers and gasoline stations totaled $560.8 billion, up 0.28% from August and 4.05% from September 2025. Both changes were seasonally adjusted.

What does the report mean by core retail sales?

The monitor’s core-sales measure excludes restaurants as well as auto dealers and gasoline stations. It totaled $453.1 billion in September, up 0.27% month over month and 3.73% year over year.

How did building and garden supply sales perform?

The sector recorded $44.0 billion in September sales, up 0.07% from August and 2.66% from September 2025, according to the Retail Monitor.

Did the report measure the effect of gasoline prices?

No quantified effect was included in the source report. NRF chief executive Matthew Shay said higher gasoline prices were taking a larger share of family budgets, but the sales figures do not measure how much fuel costs changed retail spending.

Source: rss