WASHINGTON ? U.S. retail and food services sales rose 0.6% in February 2026, according to advance Census Bureau estimates, offering a sign that consumer spending regained momentum after a weak start to the year.

The bureau's advance monthly sales release put February sales at $738.4 billion, up 3.7% from a year earlier. It also said nonstore retailers were up 7.5% year over year, while food services and drinking places rose 5.2%.

The broader release calendar on the Census retail schedule page shows how the advance report is followed by fuller monthly retail and inventory releases, making it one of the earliest official reads on household demand each month.

A separate Census e-commerce report had already shown online retail maintaining a growing share of total U.S. sales in late 2025, helping explain why nonstore retailers continued to outpace many store-based categories entering 2026.

Taken together, the data suggested that consumers were still spending despite broader uncertainty around tariffs, prices and market volatility.