Canada Feb retail sales down 0.2% on gasoline, seen down 1.4% in March

OTTAWA, April 21 (Reuters) – Canadian retail sales fell 0.2% in February from January to C$66.34 ($49.05 billion), on lower sales at gasoline stations and general merchandise retailers, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Sales were seen to fall by 1.4% in March, the agency said in a flash estimate.

Sales decreased in four of nine subsectors, representing 48% of retail trade. In volume terms, retail sales decreased by 0.7%.

(Percent changes) Feb Feb Jan(rev) Jan(prev)

mo/mo yr/yr mo/mo mo/mo

Total -0.2 +4.3 +1.6 +1.4

Excluding autos/parts -0.7 +3.2 +0.9 +0.9

NOTE: Figures are seasonally adjusted except those for e-commerce data. Analysts had, on average, forecast a 0.6% decrease in overall sales in February, and for sales to decrease 0.1% excluding autos.

($1=$1.3524 Canadian dollars)

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