The eurozone’s economic recovery looked wobblier on Tuesday. Purchasing managers’ indices suggested that the 16-country region’s climb out of recession would take longer than previously thought.

This is worrying stuff for European policymakers. Even though the global financial crisis originated in the US, eurozone gross domestic product has contracted much faster than across the Atlantic. Not only is the eurozone recovery likely to lag behind that in the US: questions could become more searching about just how strong is the rebound. The risk is that expectations have been built more on hope than reality.