FRANKFURT  Signs emerged Tuesday that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis was feeding through into the euro area economy, as unemployment rose and a survey pointed to a slowdown in the recovery of manufacturing, with a sharp decline in Greece.

While Greece accounts for less than 3 percent of the euro area gross domestic product, a survey of purchasing managers by Markit Economics pointed to a plunge in manufacturing that would make it that much more difficult for the country to solve the debt problems that are at the heart of Europe’s crisis.

Manufacturing growth in Spain also may be losing momentum, according to Markit.

Meanwhile, Spain retained the dubious distinction of being the euro zone country with the highest unemployment rate  19.7 percent, compared with an average of 10.1 percent for the 16 countries using the single currency. Unemployment for the euro area as a whole in April was up from 10 percent in March, according to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency.