WASHINGTON, April 12 (UPI) -- Retail and food service sales dropped 0.4 percent to $418.3 billion February to March, the U.S. Census Bureau said Friday.
Sales for the month were 2.8 percent higher than March 2012. But economists were surprised by the month-to-month drop. The consensus forecast called for sales to break even after they rose 1 percent in February, a figure revised from last month's release, which pegged sales growth at 1.1 percent.