From the Census Bureau report:
Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for January 2025, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $723.9 billion, down 0.9 percent from the previous month, and up 4.2 percent from January 2024. … The November 2024 to December 2024 percent change was revised from up 0.4 percent to up 0.7 percent.
emphasis added
Click on graph for larger image.
This graph shows retail sales since 1992. This is monthly retail sales and food service, seasonally adjusted (total and ex-gasoline).
Retail sales ex-gasoline was down 1.0% in January.
The second graph shows the year-over-year change in retail sales and food service (ex-gasoline) since 1993.
Retail and Food service sales, ex-gasoline, increased by 4.2% on a YoY basis.
The change in sales in January were well below expectations, however sales in November and December were revised up, combined.