What Is Retail Sales (Monthly Change)?

0.5% sits in the middle of the recent historical range for Retail Sales, consistent with ongoing trend conditions rather than a clear inflection point.

Retail Sales has moved lower from 1.9% to 0.5% since the prior monthly release — a sharp move of -1.4%. Pair this with the related indicators below before drawing strong conclusions; isolated moves on a single release often look larger than they really are.

Consumer indicators describe the financial health and spending behavior of U.S. households. Consumer spending is roughly 68% of U.S. GDP, so household behavior moves the macro picture more than any other single category.

Retail sales measures the total receipts of retail stores, covering purchases of durable and nondurable goods. It is a timely indicator of consumer demand and is closely watched for signs of economic strength or weakness.

Retail sales declined 0.2% in the latest report, following a weak January (-0.9%). Excluding autos and gas, the picture is slightly better. For executives in retail and consumer goods, the data suggests consumers are pulling back on discretionary purchases while maintaining spending on essentials. E-commerce continues to gain share of total retail sales.

The Census Bureau surveys approximately 5,500 retail firms monthly. The advance estimate is released about two weeks after the reference month. Data covers stores but not services (restaurants are included, but healthcare, housing, and financial services are not). Results are seasonally adjusted.

ExecBolt does not estimate, model, or interpolate this value — every reading on this page is pulled directly from U.S. Census Bureau (series RSXFS). For full sourcing standards and citation guidance, see the methodology page; for plain-language background on the underlying concept, see the learn library; for live cross-checks against related series, see the indicators dashboard.