Canada March retail sales down 0.2% on furniture; seen up 0.7% in April

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