Retail Sales Inch Up 0.1% In April, Higher Than Expected

Summary

• The Census Bureau's Advance Retail Sales Report for April showed consumer spending inched up last month, with head sales rising 0.1%.
• Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for April 2025, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $724.1 billion.
• Total sales for the February 2025 through April 2025 period were up 4.8 percent (±0.5 percent) from the same period a year ago.

RUNSTUDIO

By Jennifer Nash

The Census Bureau's Advance Retail Sales Report for April showed consumer spending inched up last month, with head sales rising 0.1%. This comes on the heels of March's 1.7% surge in spending and was higher than the 0.0% forecast.