According to Statistics Canada, total retail sales nationally in March 2009 advanced 0.3% on a month-to-month basis, but fell back 4.8% year over year. The three-month moving average change was +0.8% month to month but -5.2% year over year. The latest Canadian and U.S. retail sales figures have flattened out. CanaData is now expecting the square footage of retail and mall construction starts to be 6.8 million in 2009. This will compare with 11.9 million in 2008 and 18.6 million in 2007.