Financial markets around the globe are falling. Here’s what to know about how we got here Boston 25 News [Video]

NEW YORK — (AP) — Markets on Wall Street and around the world are in a mini-panic. Worried about a slowing U.S. economy, investors sent the market in Japan to its worst day in decades and have sliced billions in market value off some of the world’s biggest technology companies. They’ve turned a relatively calm year in markets on its head.

For most of the year, investors worldwide drove stock markets higher, convinced that central banks were successfully, if haltingly, getting inflation under control, and buoyed by a healthy U.S. economy and the promise of artificial intelligence.

That confidence has taken a hit the past few days. Weak readings on the job market, manufacturing and construction last week sparked worries about a U.S. economic slowdown and criticism that the Federal Reserve waited too long to cut rates. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan raised rates, causing turmoil in Japan’s markets. On Monday, the Nikkei plunged more than 12%, its worst drop …