Chart 2. The Houston Purchasing Manufacturing Index Only Recently Dipped Below 50, And Is Now Lower Than The U.S. PMI Number

Date	United States	Houston
Jan 1997	53.6	57.8
Feb 1997	53.2	62.6
Mar 1997	54.1	61.8
Apr 1997	53.7	60.9
May 1997	56.0	64.6
Jun 1997	55.4	60.0
Jul 1997	57.7	58.2
Aug 1997	56.2	63.9
Sep 1997	53.9	60.2
Oct 1997	56.4	61.3
Nov 1997	55.4	64.3
Dec 1997	54.4	62.8
Jan 1998	53.7	59.8
Feb 1998	53.1	61.0
Mar 1998	53.3	56.0
Apr 1998	52.4	55.2
May 1998	50.9	53.0
Jun 1998	49.3	50.6
Jul 1998	49.3	49.9
Aug 1998	49.2	47.7
Sep 1998	48.3	48.5
Oct 1998	48.5	47.2
Nov 1998	47.8	46.3
Dec 1998	46.5	46.0
Jan 1999	50.4	45.9
Feb 1999	51.9	45.5
Mar 1999	53.0	50.3
Apr 1999	52.6	52.5
May 1999	54.6	50.7
Jun 1999	56.5	52.5
Jul 1999	53.6	54.3
Aug 1999	54.7	54.8
Sep 1999	56.4	56.3
Oct 1999	56.6	52.9
Nov 1999	57.4	57.3
Dec 1999	57.5	56.0
Jan 2000	56.8	59.7
Feb 2000	56.7	59.6
Mar 2000	55.3	59.0
Apr 2000	54.8	59.6
May 2000	53.4	61.0
Jun 2000	51.8	62.4
Jul 2000	51.9	57.8
Aug 2000	49.9	57.5
Sep 2000	48.8	55.5
Oct 2000	48.0	61.9
Nov 2000	48.1	58.8
Dec 2000	44.2	61.7
Jan 2001	41.7	62.7
Feb 2001	42.0	61.9
Mar 2001	43.2	60.3
Apr 2001	43.2	61.7
May 2001	42.3	55.8
Jun 2001	44.3	59.5
Jul 2001	43.9	58.5
Aug 2001	47.9	54.6
Sep 2001	46.2	51.9
Oct 2001	39.5	48.6
Nov 2001	44.7	48.1
Dec 2001	48.1	46.1
Jan 2002	49.9	47.5
Feb 2002	54.7