a robot adjusts a windscreen in a fully automated process at the daimler factory in rastatt germany february 4 2019 reuterskai pfaffenbach berlin july 1 reuters  a sharp fall in new orders weighed on german manufacturing activity in june darkening the outlook for europes largest economy a survey showed on friday sp globals final purchasing managers index pmi for manufacturing which accounts for about a fifth of germanys economy fell to 520 in june from mays final reading of 548 in line with analysts expectations and with a flash estimate an index on new orders came in a 433 falling from 470 in may to hit the lowest level since may 2020 and dropping further below the 50 mark which separates growth from contraction were seeing a rapid correction in underlying demand for german goods said phil smith economics associate director at sp global market intelligence adding that firms reported multiple headwinds to export sales with backlogs now in decline firms have downgraded their expectations for output over the next 12 months to the gloomiest for over two years he said the survey pointed to some relief on the inflation front with rates of increase in both input costs and output prices slowing for a second straight month however its difficult to untangle any alleviation of pressure coming from the supply side from the effects of weaker demand smith added