Concerns grow for US economy amid service sector slowdown

Influential PMI report shows first decline in sector's business activity since October 2013 with forecast saying worse is to come

Concerns over the health of the US economy have grown following the publication of an influential report showing the first decline in service-sector business activity since October 2013.

"The PMI data show a significant risk of the US economy falling into contraction in the first quarter," said Chris Williamson, the chief economist of Markit, which published the US purchasing managers' index of service sector performance, one of the bellwethers of economic activity, on Wednesday.

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