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The Houston Purchasing Managers Index rose to 59.7 in January — up nearly two points from December. Mike Valant is survey chairman with the Institute of Supply Management – Houston.

“There was a distinct jump again in employment, purchases, and prices paid.”

The Houston PMI tracks a total of eight economic indicators. Valant says the only category that fell from December was sales.

“You know, we’re at a plateau here, where we’ve gone up, up, up, up, and, you know, it’s time to take a little breath, I think. You know, you get overproduced, and you had that little pullback last month, and this is probably a reaction to that.”

The PMI indicates likely shifts in production three or four months in advance. It has a range of 0 to 100, with readings over 50 pointing to near term production gains.