Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for December 2025 were reported at $735.0 billion, virtually unchanged from November 2025 and up 2.4% from December 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s recent report.

Total sales for 2025 were up 3.7% from 2024, and total sales for the October 2025 through December 2025 period were up 3.0% year over year. Retail trade sales were virtually unchanged from November 2025 and up 2.1% from last year.

Sales among building material and garden equipment suppliers rose on a monthly and year-over-year basis. Unadjusted December 2025 sales in this sector were reported at $38.128 billion, up from $37.845 billion in November 2025.

Monthly retail sales for hardware stores also rose on a yearly basis but fell month-over-month in November 2025, registering at $3.55 billion.