May 19 (Reuters) - Canadian retail sales fell by 1.4% in March from February at C$65.29 billion ($48.83 billion), on lower sales at motor vehicles and parts dealers, as well as gasoline stations, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Sales were seen to rise by 0.2% in April, the agency said in a flash estimate.
Sales were down in five of nine subsectors, representing 55.5% of retail trade. In volume terms, retail sales decreased 1.0%.
(Percent changes) Mar Mar Feb(rev) Feb(prev)
mo/mo yr/yr mo/mo mo/mo
Total -1.4 +2.4 -0.2 -0.2
Excluding autos/parts -0.3 +0.5 -0.7 -0.7
NOTE: Analysts surveyed by Reuters forecast a 1.4% decline in retail sales in March from February. All figures are seasonally adjusted.
($1=$1.3372 Canadian)