{"schema_version": 1, "id": "beaumont-port-arthur-tx-msa/metro-job-market/2026-09", "product": "Metro Job Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 89, "label": "Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX MSA", "slug": "beaumont-port-arthur-tx-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "general_conditions", "slug": "metro-job-market", "label": "General Market Conditions"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:37:26.650291+00:00", "headline": "Beaumont-Port Arthur job growth outpaces Texas, but so does joblessness.", "headline_summary": "The metro added 2,100 jobs over the year for 1.2% growth \u2014 ahead of Texas's 1.1% \u2014 yet its 6.2% unemployment rate remains the fourth-highest among Texas metros, well above the state's 4.0-4.4% range.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "6.2%", "context": "vs 4.0-4.4% Texas, ~5% Houston (Aug 2026)"}, {"label": "Annual job growth", "value": "1.2%", "context": "vs 1.1% Texas statewide growth"}, {"label": "Total metro jobs", "value": "171,700", "context": "Up 2,100 jobs year-over-year"}, {"label": "Jefferson County unemployment", "value": "6.3%", "context": "13th highest among all Texas counties"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Job growth and unemployment are rising together \u2014 an unusual split.", "body": "The metro added 2,100 jobs over the year, a 1.2% growth rate ahead of both Texas and Houston, yet unemployment climbed to 6.2%, fourth-highest among Texas metros. The combination is consistent with workers entering or re-entering the labor force faster than employers can absorb them, or with out-migration of trained workers leaving a residual pool less matched to open roles."}, {"headline": "Construction and health care are carrying the expansion.", "body": "Outpatient care centers, residential building construction, and building finishing contractors are the named growth drivers this month, a pattern that mirrors national and statewide sector divergence toward hands-on, place-based work. For commerce leaders, this suggests the metro's momentum is grounded in physical buildout and care delivery rather than office-based or white-collar expansion."}, {"headline": "Wage movements are sending mixed signals across the local basket.", "body": "Registered Nurse advertised pay is up significantly to $86,814 and Accountant pay rose significantly to $65,000, while Construction Laborer pay fell significantly to $32,923 and Manufacturing Production Worker pay dropped to $35,360 despite sector job gains. Rising pay in some growth sectors alongside falling pay in others suggests uneven bargaining power even within expanding parts of the local economy."}, {"headline": "A 6.2% jobless rate is the number outside observers will ask about first.", "body": "Texas's statewide rate sits near 4.0-4.4% and Houston's near 5%, so Beaumont-Port Arthur's gap is large enough that press and site-selection analysts will treat it as the headline fact regardless of job-count growth. Framing that acknowledges both figures together \u2014 growth and the rate \u2014 will read as more credible than emphasizing one in isolation."}], "local_conditions": "Beaumont-Port Arthur added 400 jobs in August and now counts 171,700 total positions, up 2,100 over the year \u2014 a 1.2% growth rate that outpaces both Texas (1.1%) and Houston, driven largely by outpatient care expansion, residential construction, and building finishing contractors tied to ongoing petrochemical-adjacent activity. That growth coexists with an unemployment rate of 6.2%, the fourth-highest among Texas's 26 metro areas, a divergence consistent with reports that trained workers continue leaving the region for opportunities elsewhere even as local employers expand.", "implications": "Job growth outpacing the state average signals genuine economic momentum for a metro that often gets overlooked relative to Houston, giving commerce leaders a defensible case for business investment and site-selection conversations. The persistent gap between job creation and a stubbornly high unemployment rate, however, points to a labor-supply and participation problem rather than a demand problem \u2014 worth distinguishing clearly when discussing the region's investment climate with outside stakeholders. Current conditions suggest economic development leaders consider examining labor force participation and out-migration data alongside job counts, rather than job growth figures alone, when characterizing the metro's trajectory.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Whether the 400-job August gain repeats in September data will indicate if construction and health care expansion has durable momentum or was a one-month bump. Workforce Solutions Southeast Texas releases local figures roughly monthly and is the most current source to track."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "The gap between job growth (1.2%) and unemployment (6.2%) raises a labor force participation question state economists will want answered \u2014 is the labor pool growing faster than jobs, or is out-migration thinning the pool of job-ready workers who remain. Either answer carries different implications for regional development strategy."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National hiring cooled sharply in September (29,000 jobs added, well below the 45,000 trailing average) with wage growth slipping to 3.0% against 3.4% inflation \u2014 the first real-wage erosion in two years. Watch whether that national softening reaches Southeast Texas sectors tied to discretionary consumer spending, such as retail and hospitality."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Government employment fell 1,000 jobs locally in July even as Professional & Business Services and Health Services each added modestly. A continued pattern of public-sector contraction alongside private-sector gains would be a notable local divergence from the metro's traditional reliance on public employment for stability."}], "roles": [{"role": "Retail Sales Associate", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 22247.5, "metro_p50": 27040.0, "metro_p75": 31200.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 33325.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Retail Cashier", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 21840.0, "metro_p50": 24408.4, "metro_p75": 26000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 31200.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 29012.0, "metro_p50": 34461.6, "metro_p75": 37076.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 38000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "CDL Truck Driver", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 56160.0, "metro_p50": 78400.0, "metro_p75": 95000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 78000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Delivery Driver", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 26051.0, "metro_p50": 30212.0, "metro_p75": 32281.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 34344.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Construction Laborer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 28607.0, "metro_p50": 32923.2, "metro_p75": 37424.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 40560.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Electrician", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 59031.0, "metro_p50": 71345.0, "metro_p75": 76675.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 71404.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 29120.0, "metro_p50": 35360.0, "metro_p75": 39520.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 39520.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Customer Service Representative", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 30805.0, "metro_p50": 37316.0, "metro_p75": 41865.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 39520.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Food Service Worker", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 25648.0, "metro_p50": 27278.6, "metro_p75": 27456.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 33756.2, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 29801.0, "metro_p50": 35872.0, "metro_p75": 37435.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 41106.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 23988.0, "metro_p50": 36023.0, "metro_p75": 39789.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 43680.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "HVAC Technician", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 54080.0, "metro_p50": 62400.0, "metro_p75": 67503.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 70720.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Registered Nurse", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 77180.75, "metro_p50": 86814.0, "metro_p75": 93382.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 102581.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 110641.5, "metro_p50": 135955.4, "metro_p75": 140519.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 153652.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Data Engineer", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 100220.25, "metro_p50": 136140.4, "metro_p75": 154980.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 139500.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Accountant", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 55895.0, "metro_p50": 65000.0, "metro_p75": 74077.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 72182.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Financial Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 75335.0, "metro_p50": 94855.0, "metro_p75": 104828.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 94782.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Generalist/Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 54320.75, "metro_p50": 60072.6, "metro_p75": 61500.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 75000.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Marketing Specialist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 46677.0, "metro_p50": 60734.0, "metro_p75": 71585.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 62354.4, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Operations Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 70000.0, "metro_p50": 83711.8, "metro_p75": 98390.5, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 85216.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Elementary/Secondary School Teacher", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 28236.0, "metro_p50": 49493.0, "metro_p75": 54451.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 56731.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Account Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 52507.75, "metro_p50": 84684.0, "metro_p75": 99352.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 92749.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Warehouse Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 48368.0, "metro_p50": 70236.8, "metro_p75": 81507.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 75000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Business Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 88735.0, "metro_p50": 104025.0, "metro_p75": 164400.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 98279.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [{"sector": "Construction", "median_pay": 74931.0, "pay_trend_direction": "up", "pay_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Manufacturing", "median_pay": 58542.0, "pay_trend_direction": "stable", "pay_trend_magnitude": "stable", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Retail Trade", "median_pay": 36300.0, "pay_trend_direction": "stable", "pay_trend_magnitude": "stable", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities", "median_pay": 71500.0, "pay_trend_direction": "up", "pay_trend_magnitude": "significant", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Information", "median_pay": 67080.0, "pay_trend_direction": "up", "pay_trend_magnitude": "significant", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Financial Activities", "median_pay": 51340.0, "pay_trend_direction": "up", "pay_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Professional & Business Services", "median_pay": 54080.0, "pay_trend_direction": "up", "pay_trend_magnitude": "significant", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Education & Health Services", "median_pay": 57200.0, "pay_trend_direction": "up", "pay_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Leisure & Hospitality", "median_pay": 28848.0, "pay_trend_direction": "down", "pay_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"sector": "Government", "median_pay": 67574.0, "pay_trend_direction": "up", "pay_trend_magnitude": "significant", "postings_trend_direction": "up", "postings_trend_magnitude": "significant"}], "citations": [], "methodology": "Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay.", "edition_label": "October 2026", "files": {"html": "beaumont-port-arthur-tx-msa/metro-job-market/2026-09.html", "pdf": "beaumont-port-arthur-tx-msa/metro-job-market/2026-09.pdf", "sources_html": "beaumont-port-arthur-tx-msa/metro-job-market/2026-09.sources.html"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T13:48:32.893623+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/beaumont-port-arthur-tx-msa/metro-job-market/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/beaumont-port-arthur-tx-msa/metro-job-market/2026-09.pdf"}