by Segment shows a .27% decline since January, indicating consumers may have been reluctant to put more big purchases on credit cards
WASHINGTON — The CNBC/National Retail Federation Retail Monitor released earlier this week showed that U.S. retail sales were up 5.76% from February 2025 and up .27% from January.
To come up with these estimates, it uses data from more than 140 million credit and debit cards representing nearly 9 billion transactions totaling more than $500 billion in annual spending.
According to the report, furniture store sales were up just over 3% from February 2025, marking the second month of year-over-year increases following January’s 2.39% increase from January 2025. The segment had a .27% decline from January, following January’s .31% decline from December.
The month-over-month data is seasonally adjusted to account for typical changes in seasonal activity related to holiday spending or weather-related impacts.
The year-over year-data is not seasonally adjusted, meaning that it is based on overall numbers with no influence on various seasonal fluctuations.
The following sectors reported increases in year-over-year sales activity.
+ Clothing and accessories were up 11.05% from February 2025.
+ Health and personal care was up 9.33%.
+ Restaurants and bars were up 7.89%.
+ General merchandise was up 7.77%.
+ Sporting goods, hobby, music and bookstores were up 6.53%.
+ Miscellaneous retailers were up 5.12%.
+ Grocery and beverage stores were up 4.57%.
+ Electronics and appliance stores were up 4.37%.
+ Digital products were up 2.36%.
The only segment reporting a year-over-year decrease was building and garden supplies, down. 5.75%.
On a monthly basis, the growth by segment was much smaller, with increases of .98% and .66% for digital products and clothing and accessories, respectively, to a meager .27% gain for general merchandise.
Other segments reporting increases were as follows:
+ Health and personal care stores were up .50%.
+ Restaurants and bars were up .33%.
+ Miscellaneous retailers were up .33%.
+ Grocery and beverage stores were up .30%.
In addition to furniture stores, other categories that were down included:
+ Sporting goods, hobby, music and bookstores, down .02%.
+ Electronics and appliances, down .07%.
+ Building and garden supplies, down .25%.
While slight, the .27% month-over-month decline in furniture store sales indicates that such spending was not a priority, particularly as many consumers had completed furniture purchases before the holidays and were also limiting how much additional purchases they put on their credit cards.
The year-over-year increase suggests that goods became more expensive with added tariffs that were not in place last year at this time. Indeed, many importers and retailers have passed those costs along to their respective customers, placing a significant burden on consumers.
