Greater Port Arthur’s good news is not that it’s booming but that it’s growing nonetheless.

Eight months back, our economy gurgling under 5 feet of floodwater, we might not have envisioned that. Back then, people here were just struggling to keep their heads above water, peering into the distance for dry land.

Well, we’ve not cleared the flood, at least not from the perspective of our local or regional economy, but we’re wading toward higher ground. That’s what one leading economist tells us.

Waco-based Perryman Group, which released its 2018 Economic Forecast this week, suggested the Beaumont-Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area — it comprises Hardin, Jefferson, Newton and Orange counties — will add some 12,600 jobs over the next five years. That would represent growth at a pace slightly behind that of the state’s but it’s growth still. It beats panhandling.

Economist Ray Perryman said although our local and regional economy sustained a “blow” — ya think? — with Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey, a full recovery is expected.

Perryman sees clearly from Waco what we think we see here: Construction is robust, petrochemicals promising. Manufacturing jobs, coveted almost everywhere, will increase here. Health care, too, will bolster the local economy.

The 2018 forecast provided by an out-of-town economic and financial analysis firm bears this additional strength: Its credence is enhanced by its distance. The Perryman Group was providing no “home cooking” in its assessment, just numbers and facts.

Let’s count some strengths likely behind Perryman’s forecast:

Most businesses are back in operations. Most folks have returned to their homes or found some adequate lodging. Not everyone is whole, but most people are healing.

Sempra is advancing with its plans to build here and was touting its plans at Port Arthur City Hall recently. Golden Pass is moving ahead with its project at Sabine Pass, while Total keeps talking expansion.

Motiva is discussing entering into petrochemicals in this hemisphere, and would be well positioned to do so at its massive refinery property in Port Arthur. New CEO Brian Coffman said Motiva refinery, most productive in America, may double in output, Reuters reported. Motiva may need to expand to stay ahead of Exxon Mobil, which is expanding its refinery in Beaumont.

Ports in Beaumont and Port Arthur are robust.

Small wonder, then, that Perryman sees job growth here, particularly if plant plans progress and construction gets underway. Growth, though, may depend on at least one negative factor: There are too few available, reliable workers.

Lamar State College Port Arthur’s workforce preparation programs are trying to meet the workforce needs, but the workforce itself must respond. Those 12,600 new jobs may include some plums: high-pay manufacturing positions that require short-term, intensive training.

That’s up to our workforce — to seize the opportunities likely to come here.