October retail gains leave home furnishings & furniture stores behind

Tomas Kauer - News Writer and News Moderator

WASHINGTON – A strong Halloween season and early holiday spending lifted sales in most retail channels last month, but the furniture and home furnishings retail segment fell short.

Retail sales saw their 13th straight month of gains in October even as high gas prices continued, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor.

Total retail sales, excluding automobile dealers and gasoline stations, were $561.7 billion in October, up 0.15% month over month and up 3.57% year over year, both seasonally adjusted. The Retail Monitor calculation of core retail sales (excluding restaurants in addition to auto dealers and gas stations) was $454.2 billion in October, up 0.26% month over month and up 3.36% year over year.

Sales were higher year over year in all categories except furniture and home furnishings, which were down 2.62%, and sporting goods, which were down 0.44%.

“Households are managing budgets carefully, timing purchases around special offers and sales events in order to stretch their dollars,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay. “Retailers continue to offer promotions and value pricing to keep everyday items and holiday gifts affordable.”

For the first 10 months of 2026, total retail sales were up 5.75% while core sales were up 5.63%.
Beginning with data for September, the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor is based on a new, enhanced methodology and includes gross dollar sales levels in addition to percentage changes at both the topline and category levels. The Retail Monitor now draws on a panel of roughly 120 million debit and credit cards from Affinity Solutions, weighted to reflect the makeup of U.S. consumers and projected to match U.S. Census Bureau retail sales totals.

Online sales from store-based retailers are now attributed back to their respective categories, when applicable, so sector figures reflect total omnichannel spending; remaining non-store retail sales are reported separately.