Under Executive Orders 12073 and 10582, the U.S. Secretary of Labor
is required to annually designate Labor Surplus Areas (LSAs) and
disseminate this information for the use of all federal agencies in
directing procurement activities and in locating new plants or
facilities. The LSAs are designated to help direct federal
procurement dollars to areas where unemployment is highest --
employers located in LSAs can be given preference in bidding on
federal procurement contracts.
LSA designations are also used
in determining Food Stamp waivers under welfare reform legislation.
A LSA is defined as an area with an unemployment rate of 20% or
higher than the national rate . The reference period used in
preparing the current list was January 2004 through December 2005.
The national average unemployment rate during this period was 5.4
percent. As a result, a 6.5 percent rate was used to determine
eligibility for the Fiscal Year 2007 LSA classifications.
The listing includes all civil
jurisdictions with a 2004-2005 average unemployment rate of 6.5
percent or higher; cities and towns with a population 25,000 or
more, county balances (counties excluding cities and towns with a
population of 25,000 or more), and individual counties with no civil
jurisdiction of at least 25,000 population.
In Iowa, eligible labor surplus
areas include:
Clayton County
Lee County
City of Burlington
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Iowa Workforce
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