The latest report on the services sector from the Australian Industry Group was a bit of a worry, not just for the industries covered by the AIGroup's monthly survey, but for the rest of the economy as well.
The latest report on the services sector from the Australian Industry Group was a bit of a worry, not just for the industries covered by the AIGroup's monthly survey, but for the rest of the economy as well.
That's because the services sector makes up a big slice of the economy - nearly half of the economy's output of goods and services and, because service provision is so labour-intensive, it accounts for well over half of employment.
The December reading from the performance of services index (PSI) - an indicator made by combining measures of sales, new orders, deliveries, inventories and employment - was the weakest since November 2014.
It was the third time in a row it had come in below the 50 mark dividing growth from contraction.
And, looking within the numbers, it's likely that the slowdown signalled by the PSI could be self-reinforcing.
The survey's measure of average wages was barely above break-even - at only 50.8 it signalled almost as many firms seeing falling wages as reporting increases.
It was the weakest this indicator has been since the global financial crisis in 2008-2009.
And the survey's measure of employment came in a 48.6.
That was below the past year's average of 51.2 and even under the break-even mark of 50.
And, maybe more significantly, it was very close to 48.0, the average for the preceding year.
During that year, the 12 months to November 2014, the unemployment rate rose from 5.8 per cent to 6.3 per cent, lifting the number counted as unemployed by over 70,000.
So these signs from the AiGroup's survey of the services sector, if sustained, would augur badly for the sector and, because of its size, for the wider economy.
And a big part of the reason for that will be that consumer spending - which makes up well over half of the economy - is driven by household incomes, which are in turn driven by employment and wages.
And when the sector employing most of the nation's workers reports the slowest wage growth in almost a decade, and below-normal employment growth, then the outlook for household spending starts to look rather grim.
All is not lost - the lower exchange rate means a bigger slice of household spending will stay within Australia, and there are signs that the proportion of incomes being spent is rising.
Even so, if the weakness foreshadowed by the AiGroup survey comes to pass, then the economy could be in a spot of bother.
