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Retail sales excluding auto dealers and gasoline stations reached $560.8 billion in September, rising 0.28% from August and 4.05% from a year earlier. It was the 12th consecutive month of growth, while building and garden supply sales rose 0.07% month over month.
U.S. retail sales rose for a 12th consecutive month in September, reaching $560.8 billion after excluding automobile dealers and gasoline stations, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor released October 8. Sales increased 0.28% from August and 4.05% from September 2025, even as higher gasoline prices put pressure on household budgets, the National Retail Federation said.
The September month-over-month increase was higher than August’s 0.22%, while the year-over-year gain also exceeded August’s 3.87%. The figures are seasonally adjusted. The Retail Monitor reports sales activity using its defined exclusions; the $560.8 billion total does not include sales at auto dealers or gasoline stations.
A narrower measure, which 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 had increased 0.17% from the prior month and 3.47% from a year earlier, according to the monitor.
Sales in the building and garden supply sector totaled $44.0 billion. The sector increased 0.07% from August and 2.66% compared with September 2025. The supplied report does not provide further detail on individual retailers or product categories within that sector.
Growth Continues Despite Budget Pressure
The figures indicate that consumer spending continued to expand through September, extending a run of monthly increases to 12 consecutive months. The faster reported month-over-month and year-over-year growth rates, compared with August, offer retailers a measure of continued demand across the categories covered by the monitor.
The report also points to a constraint on that demand: higher gasoline prices are taking up more of household budgets, according to NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. If shoppers devote more spending to fuel and essentials, they may have less room for discretionary purchases. The monitor’s aggregate results do not establish how much fuel prices changed shopping behavior, however, or whether every retail sector shared the overall growth.
For hardware and home-improvement businesses, the building and garden supply result provides a relevant sector measure: sales were up year over year, but the monthly increase was modest. The figures alone do not show whether that movement reflects prices, quantities sold, seasonal patterns or shifts in the mix of products purchased.
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How September Compares With August
The Retail Monitor is published by the National Retail Federation with CNBC. Its reported totals exclude selected categories, so the headline retail-sales figure should not be read as a measure of every consumer purchase. The monitor’s core-sales calculation removes restaurants as well as auto dealers and gasoline stations.
In both measures, September’s reported growth rates were above the corresponding August rates. Total sales growth moved from 0.22% to 0.28% month over month, while core sales growth moved from 0.17% to 0.27%. Year-over-year growth also increased in both calculations: from 3.87% to 4.05% for total sales, and from 3.47% to 3.73% for core sales. These are comparisons between the two months’ reported growth rates, not estimates of the drivers behind the change.
The report’s account of the consumer backdrop combines continued spending after the back-to-school season with pressure from fuel costs. Shay said households remained budget conscious and retailers were using promotions and value pricing. Those comments describe the NRF’s interpretation and retailers’ reported approach; the figures provided do not quantify the effect of promotions or back-to-school shopping.
What the Sales Figures Do Not Show
The reported totals show changes in sales value, but the supplied report does not separate price changes from the number of goods sold. It also does not provide a breakdown of results across all retail categories, household income groups or regions. The figures therefore cannot, on their own, establish which consumers or businesses drove the increase.
The NRF attributed budget pressure to higher gasoline prices and described household spending as focused on essentials. The release does not give a fuel-price measure or estimate how much gasoline costs affected retail purchases. It also offers no forecast for October or the remainder of 2026, and no separate explanation for the building and garden sector’s small monthly gain.
October Data Will Test the Trend
The September release establishes that sales increased for a 12th consecutive month, but it does not indicate whether that pace will continue. The next comparable Retail Monitor release will provide the October reading and show whether total and core sales continue to rise, flatten or fall. The supplied report does not state the release date for that update.
Readers tracking the trend can compare the next report’s month-over-month and year-over-year figures with September’s results, while keeping the monitor’s exclusions in view. Further detail on fuel prices, consumer spending patterns and individual retail categories would be needed to assess more directly what is driving the reported growth.
Key Questions
How much did retail sales increase in September?
Sales excluding auto dealers and gasoline stations reached $560.8 billion, up 0.28% from August and 4.05% from September 2025, seasonally adjusted, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor.
What does the report mean by core retail sales?
The monitor’s core measure excludes restaurants, automobile 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, an increase of 0.07% from August and 2.66% from a year earlier.
Why did the NRF say shoppers were watching their budgets?
NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said higher gasoline prices were taking a larger share of family budgets and that households were concentrating on everyday essentials. The release did not quantify fuel prices’ effect on retail sales.
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