February’s unemployment numbers from the Texas Workforce Commission can be called a case of good news, bad news.

The good news is unemployment rates for Port Arthur, Beaumont and Jefferson County all went down from January. The bad news is, or maybe the more puzzling news is while unemployment numbers were dropping, the number employed in the labor force also went down instead of up.

Robert Crawley, labor market analyst for the TWC in Austin said the rate was reduced for the estimated number of unemployed looking for work.

“The rate means fewer people unemployed are looking for work,” Crawley said. “I think it’s a positive report. Six hundred jobs were added to the Beaumont-Port Arthur area. Industries added workers to the leisure hospitality industries, professional business trades and mining and construction industries.”

But figures released Thursday by the TWC 626 fewer people were working in the three-county statistical area, with the number of employed falling from 168,881 in January to 168,255 in February.

“The number of unemployed went down; those available seeking work. It occurred at the city level and the metropolitan level (Jefferson, Orange and Hardin Counties),” Crawley said.

He further added those who quit seeking work or moved away are not surveyed for a reason.

Stephen Fitzgibbons, Port Arthur city manager, is of the opinion the month to month unemployment numbers from the TWC do not realistically reflect anything.

“I don’t believe last month’s numbers and this month’s numbers were accurately reflected,” he said. “I think they base it on projections. I don’t know how they do it. I’m skeptical about the specifics. The formula is more confused and it’s a complicated projection system.

“I’m glad they’re down. There’s more people working now than a year or two ago. Wages are going up which is indicative of the demand. We’ve heard horror stories about workers leaving a job for another one that pays more money.”

He added retail and restaurants will probably need more employees in the near future.

State Rep. Joe Deshotel believes the problem is that many peoples’ unemployment compensation runs out and the number of employed fall.

“I think the true number is higher than the 8.7 percent (January 2008 unemployment rate),” Deshotel said. “It’s higher here than other parts of the state.

“My office is working on a program to identify the recipients of unemployment benefits and advertise a job fair not for industrial expansion, but geared toward unskilled unemployed. We can categorize individuals who want a job.”

Deshotel expects peripheral jobs to spin off from the industrial expansions that require minimal training in areas like hotels, service industries, stocking, data entry, inventory and restaurants. And these workers will not be automatically disqualified if they have a criminal record unlike plants that must follow strict federal guidelines.