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Local Area Unemployment Statistics
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Federal Statistical Area Delineations
On July 21, 2023, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced through Bulletin No. 23-01 revised delineations of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Metropolitan Divisions, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, and Combined Statistical Areas, and guidance on uses of the delineations of these areas. The LAUS program implemented these 2020 Census-based delineations on March 17, 2025. Civilian labor force and unemployment data were reconstructed back to the series beginnings (generally January 1990) based on the new delineations. With the implementation of Bulletin No. 23-01, the use of New England City and Town Areas (NECTAs) was discontinued, and LAUS began to publish the areas and divisions made up of counties or county equivalents in the New England states. Other Bureau of Labor Statistics programs implement revisions to federal statistical areas on a program-by-program basis.
Selected previous delineations used by the LAUS program:
- Bulletin No. 18-03 and Bulletin No. 17-01 (implemented in March 2019)
- Bulletin No. 15-01 (implemented in March 2017)
- Bulletin No. 13-01 (implemented in March 2015)
The LAUS substate estimation methodology was designed around the labor market area concept. A labor market area is a contiguous geographical area in which individuals can live and work and change jobs without having to relocate. The LAUS program uses the OMB-based metropolitan and micropolitan areas as its core labor market areas, then examines commuting data for counties not included in the OMB delineations to define its own small labor market areas. The 2025 Labor Market Area Directory provides a comprehensive list of the 2020 Census-based metropolitan, micropolitan, and small labor market areas and their geographic compositions. OMB is responsible for maintaining and updating statistical area delineations, a task it has performed every decade since the 1950 Census. OMB establishes and maintains these areas solely for statistical purposes. The delineations are intended to provide a nationally consistent set of geographic areas for collecting, tabulating, and publishing federal statistics. See the Census Bureau website for access to current and historical federal statistical area delineation files.
Last Modified Date: March 17, 2025