What typically distinguishes recessions from downturns is the inventory cycle. Even in 2008, that was the basis for the Great "Recession." It was distinguished most prominently by the financial conditions and global-reaching panic, true, but the effects of the monetary crash registered heaviest in the various parts of that inventory process.
An economy for whatever reasons slows down. That leads to inventory piling up across the various levels of the supply chain. Most businesses will remain patient and work through a material glut as best they can - so long as they continue to be