Retail sales grew at the slowest pace in nearly a year in October as U.S. consumers showed signs of stress from high prices, according to the latest CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor.
Seasonally adjusted total retail spending in October was $561.7 billion, up 0.2% from the previous month and 3.6% from a year earlier, according to exclusive data released Wednesday.
Core retail spending, excluding restaurant spending, rose 0.3% from the previous month to $454.2 billion. Core spending increased by 3.4% from the previous year.
The monthly growth rate in total spending was the slowest since November 2025, showing shoppers are becoming more selective as soaring prices squeeze their wallets. According to NRF, a strong Halloween season and early start of holiday promotions prevented this number from falling further.
“Families are carefully managing their budgets and timing their purchases to align with special offers and sales events to stretch their dollars,” said Matthew Shea, CEO of the National Retail Federation. “Retailers continue to offer promotions and value prices to make everyday items and holiday gifts affordable.”
CNBC/NRF recently expanded its monitoring to approximately 120 million debt and credit cards, making them one of the nation’s largest sources of card spending. Data comes from Affinity Solutions.
Spending increased year-over-year in 9 out of 11 sectors, led by electronics and home appliances, which rose 9.3% over the 12-month period. Faced with soaring costs of memory chips due to the artificial intelligence boom, technology companies are raising prices on products ranging from MacBooks to Xboxes.
On the other hand, sales of furniture and household equipment decreased by 0.2% in October, which is likely due to the freezing of the housing market due to rising mortgage interest rates. On a 12-month basis, spending in this category decreased by 2.6%.
Spending on leisure goods such as sporting goods, music and bookstores fell 0.4% from a year earlier, despite an increase from September to October.
Wednesday’s numbers provide the latest sign of how higher-than-usual inflation and price increases are impacting U.S. consumers, who account for the lion’s share of the country’s economic output.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday that the consumer price index it tracks rose 0.4% in October, slightly faster than economists expected.
A National Federation of Independent Business survey also found Tuesday that a net 37% of companies plan to raise prices in the next three months, the highest level since July 2022, when the U.S. economy was dealing with an energy price shock from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Inflation and the cost of living were key issues for voters in last week’s midterm elections, resulting in one of the biggest shifts in U.S. political power in recent history.
