Retail Sales in February Show Some Resilience

By SBE Council at 2 April, 2026, 9:49 am

by Raymond J. Keating -

Retail and food services sales increased by 0.6 percent in February, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau. That came after a decline of 0.1 percent in January, and flat sales in December. (See the following chart from the Census Bureau.)

In February, notable declines came in furniture and home furnishing stores (-1.0 percent), and food and beverage stores (-1.0 percent).

Meanwhile, the big gainers were in health and personal care stores (+2.3 percent) and clothing and clothing accessories stores (+2.0 percent). Nonstore (mainly, online) retailers experienced a gain of 0.7 percent.

It's critical to keep in mind that retail sales data, while seasonally adjusted, is not adjusted for inflation. So, once inflation is factored in, the December change turns negative, January's decline enlarges, and February's gain is cut in half. And the 3.7 percent gain in retail and food services sales over the past year must be offset by inflation (as measured by CPI) of 2.4 percent.

While sales turning positive in February was welcome, showing some resilience among consumers, caveats abound, including inflation and the fallout of the Iran war not yet being accounted for in the data.

Raymond J. Keating is chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. He is the author of " The Weekly Economist " book series, and 10 Points from Walt Disney on Entrepreneurship .