WASHINGTON (AP) - Battered by the blizzard of 1993, U.S. retail sales plunged 1 percent

in March, the second consecutive decline and the worst in more than two years, the

government said Tuesday.

All but one category of retailingdrug stores-reported a drop, bringing the seasonally

adjusted level of sales to U.S. $166.9 billion, the commerce department said.

Retailers haven't reported such a sharp decline since Jan. 1991, in the midst of

the recession. It brought the level of sales to the lowest in six months. In advance,

analysts were expecting March sales to remain unchanged from February.