U.S. retail and food services sales rose 0.2% in June to $768.6 billion, the Census Bureau said Thursday, with a sharp drop in gasoline station receipts pulling down an otherwise broad advance.
Total sales were up 6.7% from June 2025. The April through June period was up 6.4% from the same stretch a year earlier. May's month-over-month gain was revised up to 1.0% from an initial reading of 0.9%, the Census Bureau said.
Gains were recorded in seven of the report's 13 categories. A 5.3% decline in gasoline station receipts weighed on the overall number; strip out gas stations and sales were up 0.7%.
Nonstore retailers — a category that includes e-commerce — climbed 1.9%, posting the largest month-over-month gain among major categories. Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, and book stores rose 1.3%, while electronics and appliance stores gained 0.8%. Motor vehicle and parts dealers increased 1.9%.
On the negative side, health and personal care stores fell 0.8%, food and beverage stores slipped 0.2%, and clothing and accessories stores declined 0.3%.
Food services and drinking places — the retail report's lone services entry — posted a 0.1% increase, putting them 3.8% ahead of where they stood a year earlier.
Excluding both autos and gasoline, sales rose 0.4%. The Census Bureau noted that the 90% confidence interval for the headline monthly change includes zero, meaning there is not sufficient statistical evidence to conclude the change is different from zero.
The next retail sales release, covering July 2026, is scheduled for August 14, 2026, the Census Bureau said.