China’s services sector expanded in March even as growth in employment and new business fell to their lowest in at least eight months, a private survey showed on Friday, in yet another sign that the weak Chinese economy may need more policy aid. The HSBC/Markit China Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) inched higher to 52.3 in March, compared with February’s 52.0, and above the 50-point level that separates growth from a contraction in activity on a monthly basis. But the marginal expansion was offset by lackluster growth in employment, which fell to a 10-month trough of 51.1. Growth in new businesses was at an eight-month low. “Chinese manufacturers and service providers both managed only modest increases in output at the end of the first quarter,” said Annabel Fiddes, economist at Markit, adding that data “suggests that relatively weak client demand had dampened growth across both sectors”. […]