Today the U.S. Census Bureau released preliminary estimates of nationwide retail sales in October 2022 and revised estimates for September 2022. (The data include both brick-and-mortar and Internet sales.)
Strong Growth in Retail Sales. Seasonally adjusted U.S. retail sales grew 1.3 percent from September to October. Cumulative twelve-month growth in sales from October 2021 to October 2022 was 8.3 percent.
Inflation-Adjusted Growth Strong in October, Modest Over Past Year. Across all goods and services purchased by consumers, U.S. prices grew 0.4 percent from September to October—much less than the increase in nominal retail sales. From October 2021 to October 2022, prices grew 7.7 percent, offsetting most of the 8.3 percent growth in sales over that twelve-month period.