{"id":230417,"date":"2026-01-13T00:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T00:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/230417\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T00:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T00:22:09","slug":"retail-sales-saw-strong-growth-in-december","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/230417\/","title":{"rendered":"Retail Sales Saw Strong Growth in December"},"content":{"rendered":"

Retail sales saw strong growth in December, putting holiday season results in line with the National Retail Federation\u2019s forecast for record spending, according to the CNBC\/NRF Retail Monitor<\/a>, powered by Affinity Solutions, released today by NRF.<\/p>\n

\u201cDecember Retail Monitor data saw a sharp surge in growth as consumers continued prioritizing holiday spending on family and friends,\u201d said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. \u201cContinued economic momentum helped land 2025 holiday sales near the top of NRF\u2019s forecast, reaffirming that consumers remain on solid footing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on Retail Monitor data, 2025 holiday sales from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 grew 4.1%. That compares with NRF\u2019s forecast that holiday sales would increase between 3.7% and 4.2% from the same period in 2024 to just over $1 trillion<\/a>. The forecast is based on U.S. Census Bureau data, but Census numbers for December have not yet been released.<\/p>\n

Total retail sales, excluding automobile dealers and gasoline stations, were up 1.26% seasonally adjusted month over month and up 3.54% unadjusted year over year in December, according to the Retail Monitor. That compared with increases of 0.12% month over month and 4.53% year over year in November.<\/p>\n


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The Retail Monitor calculation of core retail sales (excluding restaurants in addition to auto dealers and gas stations) was up 1.6% month over month in December and up 3.58% year over year. That compared with a slight decrease of 0.04% month over month and an increase of 4.66% year over year in November.<\/p>\n

A late Thanksgiving pushed Cyber Monday into December in 2025, so an additional busy day of holiday spending is included in December\u2019s data. December\u2019s numbers brought total 2025 sales as calculated by the Retail Monitor to an increase of 4.93% over 2024 and core sales to an increase of 5.08%.<\/p>\n

Unlike survey-based numbers collected by the Census Bureau, the Retail Monitor uses actual, anonymized credit and debit card purchase data compiled by Affinity Solutions and does not need to be revised monthly or annually.<\/p>\n

December sales were up in six out of nine categories on a yearly basis, led by clothing stores, sporting goods stores and digital products and were up across the board on a monthly basis. Specifics from key sectors include:<\/p>\n

Clothing and accessories stores were up 2.05% month over month seasonally adjusted and up 6.11% year over year unadjusted.
\nSporting goods, hobby, music and book stores were up 3.52% month over month seasonally adjusted and up 5.16% year over year unadjusted.
\nDigital products (such as electronic books and games) were up 0.98% month over month seasonally adjusted and up 3.6% year over year unadjusted.
\nGeneral merchandise stores were up 2.9% month over month seasonally adjusted and up 3.42% year over year unadjusted.
\nGrocery and beverage stores were up 0.33% month over month seasonally adjusted and up 2.85% year over year unadjusted.
\nHealth and personal care stores were up 1.92% month over month seasonally adjusted and up 2.5% year over year unadjusted.
\nElectronics and appliance stores were up 2.28% month over month seasonally adjusted but down 0.09% year over year unadjusted.
\nFurniture and home furnishings stores were up 0.33% month over month seasonally adjusted but down 0.82% year over year unadjusted.
\nBuilding and garden supply stores were up 1.11% month over month seasonally adjusted but down 5.3% year over year unadjusted.<\/p>\n

To learn more, visit nrf.com\/nrf\/cnbc-retail-monitor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the leading authority and voice for the retail industry, NRF provides data on retail sales each month and also forecasts annual retail sales and spending for key periods such as the holiday season each year.<\/p>\n

About NRF<\/p>\n

The National Retail Federation passionately advocates for the people, brands, policies and ideas that help retail succeed. From its headquarters in Washington, D.C., NRF empowers the industry that powers the economy. Retail is the nation\u2019s largest private-sector employer, contributing $5.3 trillion to annual GDP and supporting more than one in four U.S. jobs \u2014 55 million working Americans. For over a century, NRF has been a voice for every retailer and every retail job, educating, inspiring and communicating the powerful impact retail has on local communities and global economies. nrf.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Retail sales saw strong growth in December, putting holiday season results in line with the National Retail Federation\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-230417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}