The BLS enters into Cooperative Agreements with State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) annually to provide financial assistance to the SWAs for the production and operation of the following LMI statistical programs: Current Employment Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, and Mass Layoff Statistics. The Cooperative Agreement provides the basis for managing the administrative and financial aspects of these programs.

The existing collection of information allows Federal staff to negotiate the Cooperative Agreement with the SWAs and monitor their financial and programmatic performance and adherence to administrative requirements imposed by common regulations implementing OMB Circular A-102 and other grant related regulations. The information collected also is used for planning and budgeting at the Federal level and in meeting Federal reporting requirements.

The Cooperative Agreement application package being submitted for approval is representative of the package sent every year to state agencies. The work statements included in the Cooperative Agreement application also are representative of what is included in the whole LMI Cooperative Agreement package. The final Cooperative Agreement, including the work statements, will be submitted separately to the Office of Management and Budget for review of any minor year-to-year information collection burden changes these documents may contain.

Comments are due by March 9, 2009.