News report

U.S. retail and food-service sales rose 0.8 percent in September 2026 from the previous month, the Census Bureau reported on October 15. Its advance estimate put the monthly total at $745 billion after seasonal, holiday and trading-day adjustments.

The estimate was 6.3 percent above September 2025. For the three months from July through September, sales were 5.5 percent higher than in the same period a year earlier. Those comparisons describe dollar sales and do not remove the effect of changing prices.

The bureau also revised the July-to-August increase to 1.3 percent. That revision is part of the regular reporting process: advance estimates arrive before a fuller set of responses becomes available, and later releases can change earlier figures.

The monthly result offers a timely measure of business at retailers and food-service establishments. It is narrower than the whole economy and does not measure all household services. A rise in sales can reflect different combinations of quantities bought, prices and the mix of goods purchased.

The published September estimate included a margin of error of plus or minus 0.4 percentage points for the monthly change. Keeping the estimate, its uncertainty and its adjustment basis together gives the increase appropriate context. The release records higher aggregate sales in that period without establishing that every retailer, locality or household experienced the same change.

Sources