Australian retail sales fell 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted $20.46bn in March from $20.55bn in February and rose from $20.00bn a year earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.
Economists surveyed ahead of the announcement on average had expected a 0.5% rise in sales for March. Sales had risen 0.8% in February on month.
The bureau said the the trend estimate for retail sales rose 0.1% to $20.44bn in March from February. The trend estimate further smoothes the seasonally adjusted numbers.
Sales also were steady in the first quarter of 2011 from the fourth quarter 2010, in chain volume terms, compared with expectations for a rise of 0.7%. Retail turnover, in volume terms, fell to $59.78bn in the first quarter from $59.84bn in the previous quarter.