Growth in the UK's once-buoyant services sector slowed to near stagnation during February.
The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply's (CIPS) activity index found the expansion of services output at its weakest since January 2002.
Uncertainty regarding the near-term economic outlook was blamed for the decline as levels of new business fell for the first time in almost 18 months.
CIPS director Roy Ayliffe said: "February was a tough time for business in the services sector as clients were extremely reluctant to confirm new business contracts."
The survey found the sector's business activity index fell to 50.2 in February - just above the 50 no-growth mark and down from 52.3 in January.
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