DOL Releases H2B Labor Certification Program Statistics for FY 2015

The Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration released its OFLC H2B statistics from the fourth quarter of FY 2015 (through September 30). The document provides statistics for the H2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Labor Certification Program. It includes statistics for the number of applications received and processed, as well as the top occupations, states, and employers by positions certified. You can find the document here.

Notes on the Statistics

The document explains that Q3 performance was impacted by the District Court ruling in Perez v. Perez, No. 3:14-cv-682 (N.D. Florida, Mar. 4, 2015), which temporarily suspended case processing until March 18, 2015. Q4 performance data is unavailable due to the implementation of new regulations on April 29, 2015.

Applications Processed

For FY 2015, the DOL made 6,521 total determinations. Of those, 5,112 were certified, 617 denied, and 792 were withdrawn. 126,138 positions were requested, and 101,765 of those were certified. For the first three quarters, 84.3% of applications were processed timely.

Top Occupations (based on SOC Codes)

The top three occupations based on SOC Codes were:

1. Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers — 42,104 (41%)
2. Forest and Conservation Workers — 8,409 (8%)
3. Amusement and Recreation Attendants — 7,060 (7%)

Top States

The top three states were:

1. Texas — 15,956 (16%)
2. Florida — 7,068 (7%)
3. Colorado — 5,322 (5%)

New York came in sixth with 3,525.

This blog post is a brief overview of the H2B Labor Certification Application Program statistics. The full document has additional statistics and charts.