A customer looks over an SUV at a car dealership in Orland Park, Ill. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg)
March 6, 2026 9:28 AM, EST
U.S. retail sales declined in January, restrained by weakness at auto dealers as winter weather-related disruptions tempered some activity.
The value of retail purchases, not adjusted for inflation, decreased 0.2% after no change in December, Commerce Department data showed March 6. Excluding car dealers, sales were little changed.
Seven out of 13 categories posted decreases. Motor vehicle sales dropped 0.9%, while receipts at apparel merchants, gas stations and health and personal care stores also declined.
The report showed a 0.3% increase in so-called control group sales — which feed into the government’s calculation of goods spending for gross domestic product. The measure excludes food services, auto dealers, building materials stores and gasoline stations.
More modest overall retail spending at the turn of the year has been accompanied by worries about the job market and cost of living. While wealthier households have the wherewithal to purchase non-essential goods, middle- and lower-income consumers may be growing more cautious.
Separate figures out Jan. 6 showed employers unexpectedly cut jobs in February and the unemployment rate rose, raising doubts about the health of the labor market. Payrolls fell 92,000 and the jobless rate climbed to 4.4%.
Metric
Actual
Estimate
Retail sales (MoM)
-0.2%
-0.3%
Sales ex. autos (MoM)
0.0%
0.0%
‘Control group’ sales (MoM)
+0.3%
+0.3%
Walmart Inc., a bellwether for the economy, last month forecast less earnings growth this year than expected in the wake of subdued U.S. hiring. Home Depot Inc. and Lowe’s Cos. pointed to lingering consumer anxiety about the economy while noting that they don’t expect tax refunds to trickle into home-improvement spending.
Walmart ranks No. 1 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America.
A lengthy winter storm that included significant snowfall and ice across the central and eastern U.S. likely impeded shoppers during the weather event. The Arctic blast triggered the most flight cancellations since the pandemic and left more than 1 million homes and businesses without power.
U.S. retail and food services sales for January 2026 were $733.5 billion, down 0.2 percent from December 2025.
🛍️ https://t.co/1zDWdnUvR5#CensusEconData #RetailSales pic.twitter.com/PU1gn2ETr6
— U.S. Census Bureau (@uscensusbureau) March 6, 2026
Receipts at restaurants and bars, the only service-sector category in the retail report, declined 0.2% in January. Restaurants including Sweetgreen Inc. and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. said that sub-freezing temperatures and winter storms hindered sales.
At the same time, the retail report showed a pickup in sales at nonstore retailers and building-materials outlets.
