Americans Spent $745 Billion at Stores and Restaurants in September. The Shopper Is Still Standing, but Gasoline Is Taking a Bigger Cut
Retail sales rose 0.8% in September, beating forecasts, but the Census Bureau's own numbers show sales outside gas stations rose just 0.2% while wholesale prices jumped 1.3%. In our view, the American consumer is bending, not breaking, and the fuel shock is the thing to fix.
By Clara Hughes
ALTAS WORLD NEWS OPINION | By Clara Hughes, Chief Opinion Editor | October 16, 2026 | 6-min read Wall Street's favorite prediction this fall has been that the American shopper is about to quit. September said otherwise. The Census Bureau reported Thursday that retail and food-services sales reached $745.0 billion last month, up 0.8% from August and 6.3% from a year earlier [1]. Economists polled by Reuters had expected 0.3% [2]. In our view, that is a sign of a resilient country. But read one line deeper and you find the real story: a growing share of every dollar is going into the gas tank, not into stores. Key Takeaways September retail and food-services sales rose 0.8% to $745.0 billion, and August was revised up to a 1.3% gain [1]. Sales at gasoline stations jumped 6.4% in one month and 28.1% over the year; sales excluding gas stations rose just 0.2% [1]. Restaurants and bars, a good measure of household confidence, rose 1.1% for the month and 7.0% over the year [1]. Wholesale prices rose 1.3% in September, the biggest monthly jump since March 2022, with energy up 10.8% [3]. Consumer prices were up 3.7% over the year, and real average hourly earnings fell 0.7% [4][5]. Here is why this matters. Retail sales are counted in dollars, not in