Canadian monthly retail sales were softer than expected in March, dragged by lower gasoline prices, marking the weakest showing in three months.

Sales were unchanged at 39.55 billion Canadian dollars ($38.52 billion), following a 0.7% gain in February, which was revised down from the originally estimated 0.8%, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

The consensus call was for sales to edge up 0.1%, according to a report from Royal Bank of Canada. Year-on-year sales increased 1.1%.

Excluding the auto sector, sales shrank 0.2% on a monthly basis in March following a 0.7% increase the prior month, contrary to an expected 0.1% increase.

But sales volume, which eliminates price changes and feeds into economic output figures, expanded 0.7%, suggesting retail sales made a positive contribution to the month's gross domestic product.