Retail Sales Rose for a 13th Straight Month, but Furniture Fell 2.62%, and That Split Is the Housing Market in One Table
Key Takeaways Retail sales rose for a 13th straight month in October 2026 to $561.7 billion, up 0.15% from September and 3.57% from a year earlier, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor released November 11. Furniture and home furnishings was one of only two categories to fall in a year, down 2.62%, while building and garden supplies rose 1.73% to $44.4 billion. Shoppers are spending on the homes they already have and holding off on furnishing homes they just bought, in the same month existing-home sales hit their lowest pace since August 2010. The figures are dollars, not items sold: October's 0.15% monthly spending gain was smaller than the same month's 0.4% rise in consumer prices. American shoppers kept spending in October, but they did not spend like people who had just moved. The National Retail Federation's CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor release for October 2026 , published November 11, put total retail sales at $561.7 billion, a 13th straight monthly gain. That total ex...