NEW YORK - April 14, 2009 - Retail sales suffered an unexpected big decline in March, which broke two straight months of improving sales, the government reported Tuesday.

The Commerce Department said total retail sales fell 1.1% last month, compared with February's revised gain of 0.3%. Sales in February were originally reported to have dipped 0.1%.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had been expecting an increase of 0.3% in March.

Sales excluding autos and auto parts fell a surprising 0.9% compared to a revised 1% increase in the measure for February. February ex-auto sales were originally reported to have increased 0.7%.

Economists had forecast March sales, excluding auto purchases, to be unchanged from the previous month.

"We're struggling a bit to interpret these numbers," said Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics for Moody's Economy.com.