How can I get and analyze retail sales datasets?
The short answer
Official US retail sales figures come from the US Census Bureau, which publishes the release schedule and monthly numbers. For historical market data, CME Group sells datasets through DataMine, a self-service platform, and offers a DataMine API for programmatic access.
The official source and schedule
US retail sales measures how much Americans spent in shops and restaurants last month. The official schedule is published by the US Census Bureau at census.gov/economic-indicators/calendar-listview.html.
According to that Census Bureau calendar, the next releases are Thursday, October 15, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. US Eastern (12:30 UTC); Tuesday, November 17, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. US Eastern (13:30 UTC); and Wednesday, December 16, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. US Eastern (13:30 UTC).
Historical market data from CME Group
According to CME Group, DataMine is a self-service platform for historical, alternative and analytic datasets. CME Group states DataMine holds 50+ datasets, 5,000+ products, and its earliest dataset starts in 1972.
CME Group also offers a DataMine API for programmatic download and querying of purchased data. According to CME Group, the API allows users to retrieve purchased data and query custom market datasets, with a maximum of 1,000 results per list request.
Analysis tools described by CME Group
CME Group describes historical market data on Google Analytics Hub, which uses Google BigQuery for querying and sharing data. According to CME Group, this allows running SQL queries and analyzing large datasets without downloading or warehousing data.
CME Group also describes a DataMine Machine Learning Service that it says needs no prior data science or coding expertise. These CME Group pages describe market data, not the Census Bureau retail sales series.
| Date | US Eastern | UTC |
|---|---|---|
| Thu, Oct 15, 2026 | 8:30 a.m. | 12:30 |
| Tue, Nov 17, 2026 | 8:30 a.m. | 13:30 |
| Wed, Dec 16, 2026 | 8:30 a.m. | 13:30 |
| Fri, Jan 15, 2027 | 8:30 a.m. | 13:30 |
| Wed, Feb 17, 2027 | 8:30 a.m. | 13:30 |
| Tue, Mar 16, 2027 | 8:30 a.m. | 12:30 |
| Fri, Apr 16, 2027 | 8:30 a.m. | 12:30 |
| Fri, May 14, 2027 | 8:30 a.m. | 12:30 |
Questions
Where does official US retail sales data come from?
The US Census Bureau publishes the official retail sales figures and the release schedule at census.gov/economic-indicators/calendar-listview.html.
What is the retail sales release schedule?
According to the US Census Bureau calendar, releases run on October 15, 2026, November 17, 2026 and December 16, 2026, all at 8:30 a.m. US Eastern, with further dates into May 2027.
What is CME DataMine?
According to CME Group, DataMine is a self-service platform for historical, alternative and analytic datasets, with 50+ datasets, 5,000+ products and data going back to 1972.
Can I get historical market data through an API?
CME Group offers a DataMine API for downloading and querying purchased historical market data. The sources listed here do not describe a Census Bureau retail sales API.
What tools does CME Group describe for analyzing historical data?
CME Group describes Google Analytics Hub with BigQuery for SQL queries, and a DataMine Machine Learning Service that it says needs no prior data science or coding expertise.
Sources
- US Census Bureau, Economic Indicators calendar
- CME Group, DataMine
- CME Group, DataMine API
- CME Group, Market Data on Google Analytics Hub
Checked against these official sources on October 15, 2026 by the Kairotick team. Rules and schedules change; check the source before you rely on a detail.
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