Retail Sales Jump in May, with Inflation Taking a Bite

By SBE Council at 19 June, 2026, 11:53 am

by Raymond J. Keating –

Retail and food services sales jumped by 0.9 percent to an estimated $763.7 billion in May, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau. That came after a 0.4 percent increase in April and a 1.7 percent increase on March.

Of particular note, nonstore retailers (largely e-commerce) saw sales increase by 1.5 percent. Meanwhile, food services and drinking places experienced a decline of 0.1 percent. And unsurprisingly, gas station sales jumped by 3.4 percent.

But keep in mind that this data is seasonally adjusted, but not adjusted for inflation. And CPI inflation, for example, registered 0.5 percent in May, after hitting 0.6 percent in April and 0.9 percent in March.

The retail sales data essentially tell two stories – one is of remarkably resilient consumers, and the other is of red-hot inflation cutting into real sales for businesses and reducing the value of the dollar spent, saved and invested by those consumers.

Raymond J. Keating is chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. He is the author of “The Weekly Economist” book series, and 10 Points from Walt Disney on Entrepreneurship.