Canada's merchandise trade surplus grew in March for the third consecutive month as exports grew and imports declined, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The surplus jumped to $5.53 billion, its highest level since May 2007.

Canada's exports rose for the third consecutive month, increasing 1.6 per cent to $40.06 billion in March, mainly due to shipments of energy products. Imports fell by 0.3 per cent to $34.53 billion on widespread declines in all sectors except energy.

Statistics Canada said exports to the United States rose for a third consecutive month while imports from the U.S. decreased. Canada's trade surplus with the United States rose to $8.6 billion, the highest level since April 2006.

In the United States, falling imports, caused by a drop in demand for foreign oil, led to a sharply smaller trade deficit in March.

The U.S. Commerce Department said the country's trade deficit for that month was $58.2 billion U.S., down 5.6 per cent from February.

Economic weakness in the U.S. led to lower demand for imported goods, which were off by 2.9 per cent from February. That was the largest one-month drop in imports since December 2001, when the last U.S. recession had just ended, the Associated Press reported.