US Consumers Took a Breather in October as Retail Sales Stalled

A key retail sales measure topped estimates and will add to third-quarter GDP growth.Black Friday sales at a mall in Columbia, Md., on Nov. 24, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times12/16/2025|Updated: 12/16/2025U.S. retail sales were unexpectedly flat in October, as consumers appeared reluctant to open their wallets ahead of the holiday season.Change in retail sales came in at zero percent, from a downwardly revised 0.1 percent increase in September, according to data released by the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau on Dec. 16.Andrew Moran has been writing about business, economics, and finance for more than a decade. He is the author of “The War on Cash.”Author’s Selected Articles