General Merchandise Stores Sales (advance estimate; seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: Advance retail sales (U.S. Census)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. According to seasonally-adjusted advance estimates for the US economy released by the Census Bureau, sales at general merchandise stores stood at 81.78 billion US dollars in September 2026, versus 81.84 in the previous month. This marks a reduction of 0.08 percent.
Sample. There are 417 observations in the monthly time series presented in the plot above. The series covers the time range stretching from January 1992 to September 2026.
History. Take a look at a few summary statistics we computed on the whole sample: sales were equal on average to 48.55 USD billion; they hit a minimum of 19.81 in January 1992; they peaked at 81.84 in August 2026.
Latest values
| Date | Value - US dollars (USD) million |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 81,233.0 |
| 2026-08-31 | 81,844.0 |
| 2026-09-30 | 81,776.0 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | General Merchandise Stores Sales (advance estimate) |
| Country | United States |
| Economic concept | Flow |
| Data type | Nominal aggregate |
| Deflation method | Current prices |
| Seasonally adjusted | Yes |
| Rescaling | None |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Unit | US dollars (USD) million |
| Source | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Source type | National statistical agency |
| Data licence | Open Data |
| Measure type | Level |
Series in the same data set
Discover the other time series included in this data set.
Main aggregates SA
| Series Name | Observations | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Trade and Food Services Sales (advance estimate; seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Retail Trade and Food Services ex Auto Sales (advance estimate; seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Retail Trade and Food Services ex Gas Sales (advance estimate; seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Retail Trade and Food Services ex Auto and Gas Sales (advance estimate; seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Retail Trade Sales (advance estimate; seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Food Services and Drinking Places Sales (advance estimate; seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
Retail trade categories SA
Main aggregates NSA
| Series Name | Observations | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Trade and Food Services Sales (advance estimate; not seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Retail Trade and Food Services ex Auto Sales (advance estimate; not seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Retail Trade and Food Services ex Gas Sales (advance estimate; not seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Retail Trade and Food Services ex Auto and Gas Sales (advance estimate; not seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Retail Trade Sales (advance estimate; not seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Food Services and Drinking Places Sales (advance estimate; not seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
Retail trade categories NSA
Other (subcategories)
| Series Name | Observations | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auto and Other Motor Vehicles Sales (advance estimate; seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Grocery Stores Sales (advance estimate; seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Auto and Other Motor Vehicles Sales (advance estimate; not seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Grocery Stores Sales (advance estimate; not seasonally adjusted; USD million) - United States - Census - Monthly | 417 | 1992-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |