Staff report

Beaumont-Port Arthur’s economy continues to thrive, but not everyone here is sharing in the bounty.

The Texas Workforce Commission released employment figures for December on Friday, and Beaumont-Port Arthur is second-highest among 28 regions in Texas for unemployment.

The unemployment rate rose to 5.9 in December from 5.3 in the previous month, new figures show.

The state unemployment rate hovered at 3.7 percent, which continues an historic, 43-year low for Texas.

“Texas is the place to be for job growth and economic development as Texas employers in our state continue to create job opportunities for the highly skilled Texas workforce,” said Ruth R. Hughs, TWC chairman. “With mining and logging jobs, which includes oil and gas employment, which includes oil and gas employment, up 18 percent from the prior year, our employers and our workers are providing the energy that fuels the U.S. economy.”

The 5.9 percent jobless rate in Beaumont-Port Arthur is better than a year before, when the unemployment rate stood at 6.6 percent.

In Texas, only McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area at 6.7 percent had a higher percentage of unemployed.

About 10,200 people among the 172,200 in the workforce were not working, the new numbers show.