Labor Surplus Area Classification Under Executive Orders 12073 and 10582

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The purpose of this notice is to announce the annual list of labor surplus areas for Fiscal Year 2006.

DATES:

Effective Date: The annual list of labor surplus areas is effective October 1, 2005 for all states.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Anthony D. Dais, Office of Workforce Investment, Employment and Training Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room S-4231, Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-2784.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Department of Labor regulations implementing Executive Orders 12073 and 10582 are set forth at 20 CFR part 654, subparts A and B. These regulations require the Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to classify jurisdictions as labor surplus areas pursuant to the criteria specified in the regulations and to publish annually a list of labor surplus areas. Pursuant to those regulations, the Assistant Secretary of Labor is hereby publishing the annual list of labor surplus areas.

In addition, the regulations provide exceptional circumstance criteria for classifying labor surplus areas when catastrophic events, such as natural disasters, plant closings, and contract cancellations are expected to have a long-term impact on labor market area conditions, discounting temporary or seasonal factors.

Eligible Labor Surplus Areas

Procedures for Classifying Labor Surplus Areas

Labor surplus areas are classified on the basis of civil jurisdictions rather than on a metropolitan areas or labor market areas under the labor surplus area classification methodology. 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 four 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 (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) during the previous two calendar years. During periods of high national unemployment, the 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 concept comes into operation whenever, the two-year average unemployment rate for all states was 8.3 percent or above (i.e., 8.3 percent times the 1.20 ratio equals 10.0 percent). Similarly, a “floor” concept of 6.0 percent is used during periods of low national unemployment in order for an area to qualify as a labor surplus area (LSA). The six 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.

The Department of Labor issues the labor surplus area list on a fiscal year basis. The list becomes effective each October 1 and remains in effect through the following September 30. During the course of the fiscal year, the annual list can be updated on the basis of exceptional circumstances petitions submitted by state workforce agencies and approved by the Employment and Training Administration. The reference period used in preparing the current list was January 2003 through December 2004. The national average unemployment rate during this period (including data for Puerto Rico) was 5.8 percent. After applying the 1.20 ratio, the unemployment rate for qualifying an area as having a surplus of labor for FY 2006 is 7.0 percent. Therefore, areas are included on the current annual labor surplus area list because their average unemployment rate during the reference period was 7.0 percent or above.

Petition for Exceptional Circumstances 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 adequately reflected in the data for the two-year reference period. Under the program's exceptional circumstance procedures, labor surplus area classifications 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 circumstances classification are: an area unemployment rate of at least 7.0 percent for each of the three most recent months; projected unemployment rate of at least 7.0 for each of the next 12 months; and documented information 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 (OMB). The addresses of state workforce agencies are available on the LSA section of the ETA Web site http://www.uses.doleta.gov/programs/lsa.cfm. State workforce agencies should submit petitions in electronic format to dais.anthony@dol.gov or in hard copy to the ETA National Office, Office of Workforce Investment, 200 Constitution Ave., NW., Room S-4231, Washington, DC, 20210. Data collection for the petition is approved under OMB 1205-0207, dated November 23, 2004.

State Workforce Agencies

Alabama—Department of Industrial Relations, 649 Monroe St., Montgomery 36131

Alaska—Department of Labor & Workforce Development, P.O. Box 21149, Juneau 99802

Arizona—Arizona Department of Economic Security, P.O. Box 6123, Phoenix 85007

Arkansas—Employment Security Department, P.O. Box 2981, Little Rock 72203-2981

California—Employment Development Department, 800 Capitol Mall, Sacramento 95814

Colorado—Department of Labor and Employment, 633 17th Street, Denver 80202-3660

Connecticut—Connecticut Department of Labor, 200 Folly Brook Boulevard, Wethersfield 06109-1114

Delaware—Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Employment & Training, 4425 North Market Street, Wilmington 19802

District of Columbia—Department of Employment Services, 64 New York Avenue, NE., Washington 20002

Florida—Agency for Workforce Innovation, Caldwell Building, 107 E. Madison Street, Tallahassee 32399-6545

Georgia—Georgia Department of Labor, 148 Andrew Young International Boulevard, NE., Atlanta 30303

Hawaii—Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, 830 Punchbowl St., Honolulu 96813

Idaho—Department of Labor, 317 W. Main Street, Boise 83735

Illinois—Department of Employment Security, 33 S. State Street, Chicago 60602-2802

Indiana—Department of Workforce Development, 10 North Senate Avenue, Indianapolis 46204-2277

Iowa—Iowa Workforce Development, 1000 Grand Avenue, Des Moines 50319

Kansas—Kansas Department of Commerce, 1000 S.W. Jackson Street, Topeka 66612-1354

Kentucky—Department of Workforce Investment, 275 East Main Street, Frankfort 40621

Louisiana—Department of Labor, P.O. Box 94094, Baton Rouge 70804-9094

Maine—Department of Labor, 20 Union Street, Augusta 04332-0259

Maryland—Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, 500 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore 21201

Massachusetts—Division of Career Services, 19 Staniford Street, Boston, 02114

Michigan—Department of Labor & Economic Growth, Victor Office Center, 201 N. Washington Square, Lansing 48913

Minnesota—Department of Employment & Economic Development, 390 North Robert Street, St. Paul 55101

Mississippi—Employment Security Commission, 1520 W. Capital St., P.O. Box 1699, Jackson 39215-1699

Missouri—Department of Economic Development, Division of Workforce Development, 421 East Dunklin Street, Jefferson City 65104

Montana—Department of Labor and Industry, P.O. Box 1728, Helena 59624

Nebraska—Department of Labor, Div of Employment, 550 South 16th Street, Lincoln 68509

Nevada—Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, 500 E. Third Street, Carson City 89713

New Hampshire—Department of Employment Security, 32 S. Main Street, Concord 03301-4857

New Jersey—Department of Labor and Workforce Development, P.O. Box 110, Trenton 08625

New Mexico—Department of Labor, 401 Broadway, NE., P.O. Box 1928, Albuquerque 87103

New York—Department of Labor, State Campus, Building 12, Albany 12240

North Carolina—Employment Security Commission of North Carolina, P.O. Box 25903, Raleigh 27611

North Dakota—Job Service North Dakota, 1000 E. Divide Ave., P.O. Box 5507, Bismarck, 58506-5507

Ohio—Department of Jobs and Family Services, 30 E. Broad Street, Columbus 43215

Oklahoma—Employment Security Commission, 2401 North Lincoln, Will Rogers Memorial Office Building, Oklahoma City 73105

Oregon—Oregon Employment Department, 875 Union St., NE., Salem 97311

Pennsylvania—Department of Labor & Industry, 1720 Labor & Industry Bldg., Harrisburg 17121

Puerto Rico—Department of Labor and Human Resources, 505 Munoz Rivera Avenue, Hato Rey 00936-4452

Rhode Island—Department of Labor & Training, 1511 Pontiac Avenue, Cranston 02920-4407

South Carolina—Employment Security Commission, Department of Employment and Training, P.O. Box 995, Columbia 29202

South Dakota—Department of Labor, 700 Governors Drive, Pierre 57501-2277

Tennessee—Department of Labor & Workforce Development, 500 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville 37245-1700

Texas—Texas Workforce Commission, 101 East 15th Street 440T, Austin 78778

Utah—Department of Workforce Services, 140 East 300 South, P.O. Box 45249, Salt Lake City 84145-0249

Vermont—Department of Employment & Training, P.O. Box 488, 5 Green Mountain Drive, Montpelier 05601-0488

Virginia—Virginia Employment Commission, 703 East Main Street, Richmond 12119

Washington—Employment Security Department, P.O. Box 9046, Olympia 98507-9046

West Virginia—Bureau of Employment Programs, 112 California Ave., Charleston 25305-0112

Wisconsin—Department of Workforce Development, 201 East Washington Avenue, Room A400, Madison 53702

Wyoming—Department of Workforce Services, 122 West 25th Street, Cheyenne 82002