Although a bit of an afterthought on a day when oil shocks and job losses dominated macro-market headlines, it’s worth noting that nominal spending in the US slipped at the beginning of 2026.

That’s according to belated retail sales data for January, released Friday by the Census Bureau.

The headline print showed a 0.2% decline, which was actually better than expected, but constituted a second consecutive underwhelming result all the same.

The ex-autos print showed no change for the month, which is to say that even if you account for the impact of — and this always gives me the chuckles — cold weather in the winter on purchases which entail wandering around icy parking lots, spending was flat.

The motor vehicles category showed a 0.9% decline, the largest drop since October.

Only six out of 13 categories in the release managed a gain, the largest of which was a 2% jump on the “miscellaneous stores” line. (That’s Americans for you. “Honey, I’m going shopping.” “For what?” “I don’t know. Miscellaneous.”)

The silver lining was a decent (under the circumstances) showing for the control group, which notched a 0.3% advance, in-line with estimates. December’s control group print, initially a decline, now shows no change.

Still, and as BMO’s Ian Lyngen pointed out, the three-month average annualized pace for the control group — which factors into GDP forecasts — is now just 2.4%, the most tepid pace since April of 2024.