(a) Assistant Secretary shall mean Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, U.S. Department of Labor.

(b) Civil jurisdiction shall mean:

(1) Cities of 25,000 or more population on the basis of the most recently available Bureau of the Census estimates; or

(2) Towns and townships in the States of New Jersey, New York, Michigan, and Pennsylvania of 25,000 or more population and which possess powers and functions similar to cities; or

(3) All counties, except those counties which contain any of the types of political jurisdictions defined in paragraphs (b) (1) and (2) of this section; or

(4) All other counties are defined as “balance of county” (i.e., total county less component cities and townships identified in paragraphs (b) (1) and (2) of this section); or

(5) County equivalents which are towns in the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

(c) Labor surplus area shall mean a civil jurisdiction that, in accordance with the criteria specified in § 654.5, has been classified as a labor surplus area.

(d) Reference period shall mean the two year period ending December 31 of the year prior to the October 1 annual date of eligibility determination.