2013 areas of substantial unemployment designations

Accessible letter PDF: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/TEGL/2012/TEGL_6_12_Acc.pdf

CLASSIFICATION
        EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION            ASU/WIA
                    ADVISORY SYSTEM                       CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL
               U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR                   OPDR
                  Washington, D.C. 20210
                                                          DATE
                                                          September 11, 2012


ADVISORY:         TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE LETTER NO. 6-12

TO:               STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES
                  STATE WORKFORCE LIAISONS

FROM:             JANE OATES /s/
                  Assistant Secretary

SUBJECT:          Designation of Areas of Substantial Unemployment (ASUs) under the
                  Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) for Program Year (PY) 2013

1. Purpose. To request that states designate ASUs in order for the Employment and
   Training Administration (ETA) to allot funds under WIA for the period beginning on
   July 1, 2013.

2. References. WIA Sections 127(b)(2)(B) and 132(b)(1)(B)(v)(III) define ASUs and
   require their designation once in each fiscal year. ETA will use these designations to
   allot WIA Title I, Subtitle B, Chapters 4 (Youth) and 5 (Adult) funds to states for PY
   2013. WIA Section 182 requires all state allotments under Title I to be based on the
   latest available data and estimates satisfactory to the Secretary of Labor.

3. Guidelines.
   a. Designation Process Overview. Every year, ETA establishes a time period for states to
      make their ASU designations. In coordination with ETA, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
      (BLS) provides data, forms, and instructions to states for use in developing and
      submitting unemployment estimates. BLS also validates state data submittals.

   b. Definitions. An ASU is a contiguous area with a current population of at least 10,000
      and an average unemployment rate of at least 6.5 percent for the 12-month reference
      period July 2011 through June 2012.

   c. Use of 2000 Census Special Runs for PY 2013 Census Sharing. An error in the
      processing of the 2000 decennial Census affected unemployment and labor force data for
      census tracts that include group quarters and thereby reduced the quality of the data. To
      address this issue, beginning with PY 2007, ETA has obtained 2000 Census special data
      runs that provide employment and unemployment data using only household responses.
      These special runs will continue to be used this for this round of designations.


 RESCISSIONS                                              EXPIRATION DATE
 None                                                     Continuing

4. Procedures. The following are procedures for submitting ASU designations:

   a. If a state has an average unemployment rate of 6.5 percent or higher for the reference
      period, July 2011 through June 2012, the entire state will be designated as a single ASU,
      and no data or forms need to be transmitted.

   b. If the state as a whole does not qualify as an ASU, it should designate contiguous
      combinations of counties, cities, towns, townships, other minor civil divisions, and/or
      census tracts as ASUs. Such ASUs should be described using the largest appropriate
      units. If Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) for the candidate ASU are
      routinely collected by BLS, the state should report this fact and not submit any data.

   c. If, on the other hand, LAUS for the candidate ASU are not routinely collected by BLS,
      the state should use data for the reference period to fill out the designation and data
      collection forms, obtained from BLS, and transmit them to the national offices of BLS
      and ETA (see Section 5).

   d. The state should describe the geographic components of each candidate ASU in sufficient
      detail for a reviewer to verify that it is contiguous, does not overlap with other ASUs, and
      has a population of at least 10,000. States should either include supporting maps,
      indicating proposed ASUs, or have them available to respond to possible questions.

   e. Not later than August 30, 2012, states should receive instructions on specific procedures
      to follow as well as ASU designation and data collection forms from BLS.

5. Action Requested. States should ensure that their forms are received in the ETA and BLS
   national offices by October 12, 2012. Please send the ETA copy to: Employment and
   Training Administration, Office of Policy Development and Research, Attention: Daniel
   Ryan, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room N-5641, Washington, D.C. 20210. The BLS
   copy should be sent to: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Division of Local Area Unemployment
   Statistics, Attention: Brian Hannon, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E., Mail Code 140, Room
   4675, Washington, D.C. 20212-0001.

6. Inquiries. Please direct questions to Mr. Daniel Ryan in the Office of Policy Development
   and Research at [email protected] or (202) 693-3649 or to your ETA regional office.