"Consumer spending remained disappointingly weak in December, " said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, which compiled the index.
Chris Williamson, Labour MP for Derby North, said he had written to the chief executive of Rolls-Royce for more information.
Economists like Chris Williamson of Markit, have been scratching their heads, trying to explain why the economy has been generating jobs even though it is treading water.
"Another rather disappointing survey adds to fears that the UK recovery continued to lose momentum at the start of the fourth quarter, " said Markit's chief economist Chris Williamson.
"The eurozone downturn showed further signs of easing in December, adding to hopes that the outlook for next year is brightening, " said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.
"The first fall in service sector activity for two years raises the likelihood that the UK economy is sliding back into recession, " said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.
But Chris Williamson from Markit said that while the snow had clearly had an impact on sales, the decline was not as severe as that seen in previous years.
The drop was slightly milder than expected, but would have been steeper had it not been for a rebound in energy production, said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit in a note.
Although the rise beat analysts' expectations, Markit chief economist Chris Williamson described the data as "very volatile" and pointed out that the figures for the three months to the end of September compared to the same period last year showed the steepest fall since April 2009.
"Despite the easing in the rate of decline, the region still looks set for further contraction in the early months of 2013, as weak consumer demand in many countries combines with low levels of business confidence and falling global trade", said Chris Williamson, Markit's chief economist.
BBC: Eurozone recession to continue into 2013, survey suggests
We have this, for example, from Chris Williamson at Markit: "While the UK clearly faces a clear risk of sliding back into another recession, which is commonly defined as two consecutive quarter of declining GDP, there are growing indications that any downturn is likely to be mild and short-lived".
"The government and Bank of England will breathe sighs of relief in seeing signs of a gathering upturn in the service sector during March, which looks set to have helped the UK avoid a triple-dip recession by the narrowest of margins, " said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.
BBC: UK service sector sees 'solid' growth, PMI survey shows
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