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The Houston Purchasing Managers Index rose to 55.8 in January, up more than a point from December. Mike Valant is business survey chair with the Institute of Supply Management – Houston.

“Sales trickled back up from after being down three months in a row. Production came back. They are building back up inventory, so that’s a positive side. And I think a lot of the reduction in inventory before was their traditional end of the year reduction for tax purposes. Sometimes that hides whether there’s activity or not by the end of the year.”

Nearly 80% of those responding had increased or the same employment levels in January compared to the previous month. That’s down from more than 90% in September.

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.