The April 2011 ISM Manufacturing Survey was released April 1st. PMI dropped 0.8 percent points to 60.4%, from 61.2% in March. This is the 4th month for the manufacturing index to be above 60%. The employment index is at it's highest point in 38 years for the first 4 months of 2011. We'll see if this translates to some manufacturing jobs later in the week.
The ISM has a correlation formula to annualized GDP, but they are now noting the past correlation, probably due to the meager 1.8% annualized GDP growth for Q1 2011.
The past relationship between the PMI and the overall economy indicates that the average PMI for January through April (61 percent) corresponds to a 6.5 percent increase in real gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, if the PMI for April (60.4 percent) is annualized, it corresponds to a 6.3 percent increase in real GDP annually.
New orders dropped -1.6 percentage points to 61.7%.