In April 2025, global manufacturing activity contracted for the first time this year. The global manufacturing index calculated by JPMorgan fell to 49.8 points, down from 50.3 in March. This value, which is below 50, indicates a downturn in the sector. Analysts attribute the worsening indicators to a decrease in new orders and a reduction in employment.
This is reported by Finway
In particular, the index of future production volumes dropped to its lowest level since October 2022, declining by 4.5 points since Donald Trump’s return to the White House. There was also the largest drop in the export orders index since March 2022: -2.8 points, down to 47.2. This is the weakest result since August 2023.
At the same time, the index of finished goods prices rose to a peak not seen since March 2023, although purchasing prices remained stable.
However, a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that the implementation of artificial intelligence could accelerate global economic growth by 15 percentage points by 2035. This means that an additional 1 percentage point will be added to the annual increase in global GDP. However, under conditions of low confidence and limited interaction, the additional economic growth due to artificial intelligence could slow to 8%, and in the most conservative scenario – to just 1%.