The FY 2010 Labor Surplus Area (LSA) list includes LSA’s in 45 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The list only includes those states and jurisdictions with designated Labor Surplus Areas. All of the qualifying areas in the nation are listed in alphabetical order by state or state equivalent.

The reference period used in preparing the LSA list was January 2007 through December 2008. The national average unemployment rate (including Puerto Rico) during this period was rounded to 5.3 percent. The qualifying rate for a Labor Surplus Area classification is 20 percent above the national average unemployment rate. For FY 2010 the qualifying rate is 6.3 percent. Areas included on the FY 2010 annual Labor Surplus Area list are all counties, county equivalents, balance of county (where the entire county did not make the LSA list), and cites with a population greater than 25,000 (the population criteria for cities do not apply in a small number of New England states) with an average unemployment rate of 6.3 percent or above during the previous two calendar years.

Several areas not on this LSA list have current unemployment rates that are substantially higher than the FY 2010 labor surplus qualifying rate of 6.3 percent. Most of these areas experienced unemployment rates that were considerably lower than the labor surplus qualifying rate of 6.3 percent for 2007 and the first half of 2008. The unemployment rates for most of these areas did not become significantly higher than 6.3 percent until after the third quarter of 2008 causing the unemployment rate for the reference period to be lower than 6.3 percent.

If an area did not make this year’s LSA list and is currently experiencing an unemployment rate at or above the qualifying unemployment rate may be eligible to be added to this year’s LSA list through an exceptional circumstance petition. For more information about the classification process and exceptional circumstance petition, see "Description of Labor Surplus Areas".

The FY 2010 Labor Surplus Area classifications will be in effect through September 30, 2010.

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