Cash Register
A worker sorts the money in the cash register in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for January 2025 were down 0.9% from December according to numbers released Friday.

Analysts only expected the number to drop only 0.2%.

The drop breaks a four-month streak of the number increasing.

Retail trade sales were down 1.2% from December according to the U.S. Census Bureau's retail sales report.

Car sales saw one of the biggest drops along with furniture and electronics.

Grocery store sales also slipped.

While the overall month-to-month retail sales number was down, it was up 4.2% from January a year ago.

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Retail sales