Following April's flash PMI print plunge to cycle lows - blamed on the presidential election uncertainty - Markit's Final Manufacturing PMI printed 50.8 (as expected) its lowest since September 2009. New orders weakened further as the rate of job creation tumbles to three-year lows. ISM Manufacturing fell back from its oddly decoupled bounce to July 2015 highs to a coincidental 50.8 (missing expectations of 51.4). As Markit concludes, apparently peddling fiction, "the April PMI data suggest there’s no end in sight to the current downturn in manufacturing activity...raising question marks over whether GDP growth will improve on the near-stalling seen in the first three months of the year."

Manufacturing PMI Headline output and employment data are ugly...

And following ISM's recent bounce, notably opposing Markit's survey, ISM reported Manufacturing fell back perfectly in line with Markit's PMI...

Breakdown shows 4 componenst in contraction...

Notably, despite the drop, all respondents 'cherry picked' by ISM were positive.

However, commenting on the final PMI data, Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit said:

“The April PMI data suggest there’s no end in sight to the current downturn in manufacturing activity. The survey indicates that factory output is dropping at an annualized rate of approximately 3%, and factory headcounts are being culled at a rate of around 10,000 per month.

“Destocking is also very much in evidence as companies often reported weaker than expected demand and exports are slumping at the fastest rate for one and a half years.

“Rather than reviving after a disappointingly weak first quarter, the data flow therefore appears to be worsening in the second quarter, raising question marks over whether GDP growth will improve on the near-stalling seen in the first three months of the year.”

Charts: Bloomberg