By Ethan Faverino |

U.S. retail sales experienced healthy growth in December 2025, aligning holiday season results closely with its forecast for record consumer spending, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).

“December Retail Monitor data saw a sharp surge in growth as consumers continued prioritizing holiday spending on family and friends,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Continued economic momentum helped land 2025 holiday sales near the top of NRF’s forecast, reaffirming that consumers remain on solid footing.”

The Retail Monitor, which draws from actual, anonymized credit and debit card transaction data, showed that holiday sales from November 1 through December 31, 2025, increased 4.1% year-over-year.

This performance fell within NRF’s pre-season forecast range of 3.7% – 4.2% growth over the same period in 2024, which projected total holiday spending surpassing $1 trillion for the first time. Official December figures from the U.S. Census Bureau have not yet been released.

Key December highlights include:

• Total retail sales (excluding car dealers and gas stations) rose 1.26% month over month on a seasonally adjusted basis and 3.54% year over year, unadjusted. This marked a significant increase from November’s 0.12% monthly gain and 4.53% annual gain.
• Core retail sales (excluding car dealers, gas stations, and restaurants) climbed 1.6% month over month and 3.58% year over year, compared to a slight 0.04% monthly decline and 4.66% annual increase in November.

A calendar shift contributed to December’s strong performance, as a late Thanksgiving pushed Cyber Monday to December 1, adding an extra high-volume shopping day to the month’s totals.

The full year’s impact was notable, with total 2025 retail sales up 4.93% over 2024 and core sales rising 5.08%.

December sales increased in six out of the nine tracked categories on a year-over-year basis, with strong performances in:

• Clothing and accessories stores: +6.11% year-over-year, +2.05% month-over-month
• Sporting goods, hobby, music, and book stores: +5.16% year-over-year, +3.52% month-over-month
• Digital products: +3.6% year-over-year, +0.98% month-over-month
• General merchandise stores: +3.42% year-over-year, +2.9% month-over-month
• Grocery and beverage stores: +2.85% year-over-year, +0.33% month-over-month
• Health and personal care stores: +2.5% year-over-year, +1.92% month-over-month

Categories showing year-over-year declines included electronics and appliance stores (-0.09%), furniture and home furnishings stores (-0.82%), and building and garden supply stores (-5.3%), though all posted positive monthly gains.

Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.