US clothing sales rise again in June

For the ninth month in a row, retail sales have gone up in the United States in June, with clothing and accessories stores showing an increase of 0.63 percent month over month adjusted and 13.65 percent year over year unadjusted. The numbers were revealed by the National Retail Federation on Monday through its CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor.

The Retail Monitor uses anonymized credit and debit card purchase data compiled by Affinity Solutions to create the report. According to the data, besides clothing stores, June sales were up across the board on a yearly basis, including categories such as sporting goods and electronics. The total retail sales, excluding automobile dealers and gasoline stations, were up 0.33 percent seasonally adjusted month over month and up 9.41 percent unadjusted year over year.

“The summer shopping season got off to a strong start in June,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. “Consumers took advantage of summer sales events, and many got an early jump on back-to-school shopping. The willingness to spend on retail goods has been supported by the retail industry’s laser focus on affordability as well as a durable labor market. Year-over-year gains look particularly strong compared with a weak June 2025.

The calculation of core retail sales, excluding restaurants in addition to auto dealers and gas stations, was up 0.36 percent month over month in June and was up 10.08 percent year over year.

According to the National Retail Federation, retail contributes 5.3 trillion dollars to the country’s annual GDP and supports more than one in four U.S. jobs, with 55 million working Americans.