By Reuters
Factory activity in Asia, Europe and the U.S. ended 2024 on a soft note as expectations for the new year soured amid growing trade risks from a second Donald Trump presidency and China’s fragile economic recovery.
A manufacturing slowdown in the euro zone intensified last month, with scant signs of a rebound anytime soon as the bloc’s three largest economies – Germany, France and Italy – remained stuck in an industrial recession.
Manufacturing purchasing managers’ indexes for December from across Asia published on Thursday showed factory activity slowing in China and South Korea although there were some signs of a pickup in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
In the U.S., activity contracted for a sixth straight month to wind up another year of below-par production across the factory sector.
U.S. President-elect Trump has pledged to impose tariffs across the board, with bigger barriers on imports from three major trading
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