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Finding Labor Suplus Areas
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Labor Surplus Areas
In general, labor surplus areas are regions in the United States with a large proportion of unemployed and available workers. More specifically, labor surplus areas are civil jurisdictions that have an average unemployment rate that is 20 percent higher than the average national unemployment rate for the past two years. Used here, civil jurisdictions are all cities with a population greater than 25,000 and all counties. During periods of high national unemployment of 8.3 percent and above, the 20 percent threshold is reduced to a 10 percent threshold. Similarly, a floor of 6 percent is set for periods when the national unemployment rate is 5 percent or less.
For example, the average national unemployment rate from January 2006 to December 2007 was 4.7 percent. This placed the labor surplus area threshold at the 6 percent floor. Using the 6 percent criteria, the Department of Labor found three areas in Montana that qualified as a labor surplus area in their 2009 estimates – Big Horn, Glacier, and Lincoln Counties – because the 2-year average unemployment rate in these counties exceeded 6 percent.
The U.S. Department of Labor makes the labor surplus area determination on a fiscal year basis, beginning on October 1 and ending the next calendar year on September 30. The U.S. Department of Labor provides a complete list of labor surplus areas for current and historic fiscal years on its web site, http://www.doleta.gov/Programs/lsa.cfm. The web site also has additional information on labor surplus areas and their development.
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