A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that U.S. retail and food services sales in August 2025 reached an estimated 732 billion dollars, marking an increase of 0.6 percent from the revised July figure. This growth follows a similar 0.6 percent rise in July, which was revised upward from an initial estimate of 0.5 percent. On a year-over-year basis, August sales were up 5.0 percent compared to August 2024.
Apparel, clothing, and accessories stores record strong performance
The clothing and clothing accessories stores category experienced notable growth in August. Sales in this sector were up 1.0 percent from the previous month and demonstrated a significant increase of 8.3 percent year-over-year. This strong performance was a key contributor to the overall retail trade sales, which grew by 0.6 percent from July and 4.8 percent from August 2024.
Growth across multiple retail sectors
The report highlights broad-based growth, with nonstore retailers seeing a substantial increase of 10.1 percent from the previous year. Food services and drinking places also performed well, with sales climbing 6.5 percent from August 2024. Other sectors that showed month-over-month growth include:
- Food and beverage stores: up 0.3 percent
- Electronics and appliance stores: up 0.3 percent
- Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, and book stores: up 0.8 percent
- Motor vehicle and parts dealers: up 0.5 percent
Conversely, some categories saw a decrease in sales from July to August, including general merchandise stores, which were down 0.1 percent, and miscellaneous store retailers, which saw a decline of 1.1 percent. Department stores, a subcategory of general merchandise stores, experienced a decline of 0.8 percent from the previous month and a 1.0 percent decrease year-over-year.
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