May 24 (Reuters) – Canadian retail sales decreased by 0.2% in March from February at C$66.44 billion ($48.44 billion), led by decreases at furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances retailers, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Sales were likely up 0.7% in April, the agency said in a flash estimate.
In March, sales were down in seven of nine subsectors, representing 66.7% of retail trade. In volume terms, retail sales decreased 0.4%.
(Percent changes) Mar Mar Feb(rev) Feb(prev)
mo/mo yr/yr mo/mo mo/mo
Total -0.2 +1.9 -0.1 -0.1
Excluding autos/parts -0.6 +0.7 -0.2 -0.3
NOTE: All figures are seasonally adjusted. Analysts surveyed by Reuters forecast March retail sales to be flat on the month, and to be down 0.1% excluding autos.
($1=$1.3717 Canadian)
(Reporting by Dale Smith)
Keywords: CANADA ECONOMY/RETAIL
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