Description of Labor Surplus Areas

U.S. Department of Labor OMB Control No. 1205-0207

Employment and Training Administration Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx

Description of Labor Surplus Areas

Description of Labor Surplus Areas

Procedures for Classifying Labor Surplus Areas and Petition Criteria

Labor surplus areas are classified on the basis of civil jurisdictions rather than on a metropolitan area or labor market area basis under the basic labor surplus area program procedures. Civil jurisdictions are defined as all cities with a population of at least 25,000 and all counties. Townships with a population of 25,000 or more are also considered as civil jurisdictions in 4 states (Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania). In Connecticut, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island where counties have very limited or no government functions, the classifications are done for individual towns.

A civil jurisdiction is classified as a labor surplus area when its average unemployment rate was at least 20 percent above the average unemployment rate for all states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico during the previous two calendar years. During periods of high national unemployment, the 1.20 percent ratio is disregarded and an area is classified as a labor surplus area if its unemployment rate during the previous two calendar years was 10 percent or more. This 10 percent ceiling comes into effect whenever the two-year average unemployment rate for all states was 8.3 percent or above. Similarly, a floor of 6.0 percent is used during periods of low national unemployment in order for an area to qualify as a labor surplus area. The 6 percent floor comes into effect whenever the average unemployment rate for all states during the two-year reference period was 5.0 percent or less.

Petition for Exceptional Circumstance Consideration

The classification procedures also provide for the designation of labor surplus areas under exceptional circumstance criteria. These procedures permit the regular classification criteria to be waived when an area experiences a significant increase in unemployment which is not temporary or seasonal and which was not reflected in the data for the two-year reference period. Under exceptional circumstance procedures, labor surplus area designations can be made on the basis of civil jurisdictions, Metropolitan Statistical Areas or Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas. In order for an area to be classified as a labor surplus area under the exceptional circumstance criteria, the state workforce agency must submit a petition requesting such classification to the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration. The current conditions for exceptional circumstance classification are: an area unemployment rate of at least 6.0 percent for each of the three most recent months; projected unemployment rate of at least 6.0 percent for each of the next 12 months; and documentation that the exceptional circumstance event has already occurred. The state workforce agency may file petitions on behalf of civil jurisdictions, as well as Metropolitan Statistical Areas or Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. The addresses of state workforce agencies are available on the LSA section of this Web site at http://www.doleta.gov/programs/lsa.cfm.

State workforce agencies may submit petitions, in electronic or hard copy format, to wright.samuel.e@dol.gov, or in hard copy format to: Samuel Wright, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration, Office of Workforce Investment, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Room C-4510, Washington, D.C. 20210. Data collection for the petition is approved under OMB Control Number 1205-0207.

OMB Control No.: 1205-0207 OMB Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx Estimated Average Response Time: 3 Hours
OMB Burden Statement: These reporting instructions have been approved under the Paperwork reduction Act of 1995.  Persons are not required to respond to this collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.  Public reporting burden for this collection of information includes the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.  Submission is required to obtain or retain benefits and used for program management.  Respondents to this report have no expectation of confidentiality.  Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Workforce Investment, Room C-4510, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC, 20210.