WASHINGTONLONDONTOKYO, June 23 Reuters Manufacturing growth is slowing worldwide as China39;s COVID19 curbs and Russia39;s invasion of Ukraine disrupt supply chains and keep inflation at the highest in years, while the growing risk of a U.S. recession poses a new threat to the global economy.

Gauges of factory activity released Thursday in Japan, Britain, the euro zone and United States all softened in June, with U.S. producers reporting the first outright drop in new orders in two years in the face of slumping consumer and business confidence.

SP Global39;s flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, dropped to 51.2 this month from a final reading of 53.6 in May and the slowest growth pace in five months. The manufacturing component dropped to 52.4, the lowest in nearly two years, from 57 in May and was notably weaker than the estimate of 56 in a Reuters poll of economists.

Business confidence is now at a level which would typically herald an economic downturn, adding to the risk of recession, said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at SP Global Market Intelligence.

Meanwhile, high prices in the euro zone meant demand for manufactured goods fell in June at the fastest rate since May 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic was taking hold, with SP Global39;s headline factory Purchasing Managers39; Index falling to a near twoyear low.

June39;s euro zone PMI surveys showed a further slowdown in the services sector,…