Growth in euro-area manufacturing and services slowed in Aprilin a sign that bondpurchases by the European Central Bank (ECB) will take time torevive a fragile recovery.

A Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for both industries fell to53.5 from 54 in March, London-based Markit Economics said onThursday. While the reading remains well above the 50-point markthat divides expansion from contraction, it is below the 54.4forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey.

“The weaker rate of expansion is a big disappointment, givenwidespread expectations that the ECB's quantitative easing willhave boosted the fledgling recovery seen at the start of the year,”said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit. “However, it'stoo early to draw firm conclusions about whether growth isfaltering again and the effectiveness of policy.”