Fiserv Inc. reported that its Small Business Index held steady at 148 for September 2025, marking the third consecutive month at this level. Year-over-year, small business sales and transactions both increased by 2.3%, while average ticket sizes edged up by 0.1% compared to 2024. On a month-over-month basis, sales rose slightly by 0.1% and transactions by 0.3%, although average ticket size dipped by 0.2% relative to August. Service-based businesses outperformed goods, with Services sales climbing 2.3% year-over-year-outpacing Goods, which grew by 1.7%. Among service categories, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services led with a 7.2% annual increase, followed by Information (+6.7%) and Healthcare (+3.3%). Retail sales grew 1.6% year-over-year, driven by categories such as Sporting Goods, Hobby, and Miscellaneous Retailers (+5.3%), Furniture and Appliance Retailers (+5.3%), and Clothing, Shoe, and Jewelry Retailers (+5.1%). However, retail faced a 0.3% decline month over month, with Food and Beverage Retailers seeing a 1.5% contraction. Core Retail, which excludes categories like gasoline, motor vehicles, and building materials, fell 0.6% from August. Despite a 3.2% drop in foot traffic month-over-month, Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers recorded a healthy 2.2% increase in sales ahead of the holiday season. Fiserv emphasized that continued consumer pragmatism is leading to cautious discretionary spending, with essentials categories seeing stronger growth than non-essentials.