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Union membership rate 8.6 percent in manufacturing, 23.4 percent in utilities, in 2019

February 03, 2020

The union membership rate (the percentage of wage and salary workers who were members of unions) was 10.3 percent in 2019, compared with 13.4 percent in 2000. In 2019, the union membership in private industry ranged from 2.2 percent or lower in professional and business services; accommodation and food services; agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting; and finance and insurance. Union membership rates were above 14.0 percent in telecommunications; transportation and warehousing; and utilities.

Union membership, by industry, 2000–19
Year Total, all industries Local government State government Federal government  Utilities  Transportation and warehousing Telecommunications Motion pictures and sound recording industries

2000

13.4% 42.4% 29.7% 31.5% 27.2% 25.7% 23.8% 17.1%

2001

13.3 41.9 30.5 31.5 26.7 25.0 23.7 12.2

2002

13.3 42.3 31.0 32.2 25.4 24.6 23.1 14.3

2003

12.9 42.6 30.3 30.9 28.2 25.8 21.0 12.0

2004

12.5 41.3 30.7 29.9 28.4 24.2 22.4 15.7

2005

12.5 41.9 31.3 27.8 27.4 23.4 21.4 15.0

2006

12.0 41.9 30.2 28.4 28.2 22.2 20.7 10.3

2007

12.1 41.8 30.4 26.8 28.4 20.9 19.7 11.5

2008

12.4 42.2 31.6 28.1 26.9 21.3 19.3 11.4

2009

12.3 43.3 32.2 28.0 26.1 21.3 16.0 12.8

2010

11.9 42.3 31.1 26.8 28.3 20.5 15.8 9.3

2011

11.8 43.2 31.5 28.1 25.0 20.4 15.6 13.8

2012

11.3 41.7 31.3 26.9 24.7 19.9 15.6 11.4

2013

11.3 40.8 30.9 26.5 25.6 19.6 14.4 9.5

2014

11.1 41.9 29.8 27.5 22.3 19.6 14.8 7.3

2015

11.1 41.3 30.2 27.3 21.4 18.9 13.3 11.7

2016

10.7 40.3 29.6 27.4 21.5 18.4 14.6 11.0

2017

10.7 40.1 30.3 26.6 23.0 17.3 16.1 11.4

2018

10.5 40.3 28.6 26.4 20.1 16.7 15.4 12.5

2019

10.3 39.4 29.4 25.6 23.4 16.1 14.1 13.6

 

Union membership, by industry, 2000–19 (continued)
Year  Construction  Educational services Radio and television broadcasting and cable subscriptions programming Manufacturing Health care and social assistance Arts, entertainment, and recreation Wholesale trade Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction

2000

17.5 11.5 8.8 14.9 7.1 6.9 5.3 11.3

2001

16.9 13.2 7.2 14.7 7.1 6.4 5.6 11.5

2002

16.7 13.7 7.6 14.6 7.3 6.4 5.0 8.7

2003

16.0 12.1 9.2 13.5 7.0 5.4 5.1 9.1

2004

14.7 13.0 9.3 12.9 7.2 6.4 4.6 11.4

2005

13.1 13.1 8.6 13.0 7.1 6.3 5.9 8.0

2006

13.0 13.5 5.9 11.7 7.0 6.3 4.9 7.5

2007

13.9 12.6 8.7 11.3 7.9 6.2 5.2 9.3

2008

15.6 13.8 9.5 11.4 8.0 6.4 5.3 6.9

2009

14.5 12.9 4.7 10.9 7.5 6.4 4.9 8.6

2010

13.1 13.0 5.1 10.7 6.9 5.3 5.2 8.0

2011

14.0 13.0 5.9 10.5 7.5 5.3 4.4 7.2

2012

13.2 12.4 6.7 9.6 7.0 6.4 5.1 7.2

2013

14.1 12.9 5.5 10.1 7.2 5.2 5.0 5.4

2014

13.9 11.7 7.0 9.7 7.3 6.5 3.3 4.8

2015

13.2 13.7 6.7 9.4 7.3 6.4 3.8 5.4

2016

13.9 12.3 5.9 8.8 7.1 5.4 3.7 5.6

2017

14.0 11.4 7.8 9.1 7.2 5.9 4.5 4.4

2018

12.8 13.1 7.7 9.0 6.7 5.7 4.1 4.7

2019

12.6 12.3 11.0 8.6 6.8 6.6 4.5 4.0

 

Union membership, by industry, 2000–19 (continued)
Year Real estate and rental and leasing Retail trade Publishing, except Internet Other services Professional and business services Accommodation and food services Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting Finance and insurance

2000

3.3 6.1 8.0 3.5 2.5 3.2 2.6 1.1

2001

4.3 6.0 6.9 3.7 3.1 3.0 2.8 1.6

2002

3.5 6.1 9.0 3.7 2.7 2.3 2.8 1.5

2003

3.7 6.4 7.4 3.3 2.3 2.2 1.6 1.6

2004

3.5 5.7 6.7 2.8 2.3 2.4 2.2 1.5

2005

4.0 5.2 8.8 3.2 2.7 2.4 2.7 1.6

2006

3.3 5.0 7.0 3.1 2.4 2.4 2.3 1.4

2007

3.2 5.3 7.3 2.9 2.4 2.0 1.5 1.5

2008

3.3 5.2 7.2 3.1 2.1 2.5 2.8 1.3

2009

3.0 5.3 5.3 2.9 2.3 2.3 1.1 1.4

2010

4.1 4.7 5.0 2.9 2.7 2.1 1.6 1.3

2011

3.4 4.9 4.5 3.4 2.1 2.1 1.4 1.1

2012

4.1 4.6 3.7 2.5 2.4 1.9 1.4 1.2

2013

4.0 4.6 4.7 3.0 2.4 2.1 1.0 1.3

2014

3.7 4.4 3.6 2.9 2.3 2.5 1.1 1.4

2015

4.7 4.8 3.9 3.0 2.5 2.4 1.2 1.6

2016

4.9 4.3 4.9 2.6 2.4 2.5 1.3 1.4

2017

5.0 4.5 3.6 2.8 2.3 2.2 2.1 1.5

2018

3.9 4.3 3.9 2.6 2.6 2.3 2.2 1.5

2019

4.0 4.0 3.3 2.8 2.2 2.1 1.7 1.2

Union membership rates were 39.4 percent in local government, 29.4 percent in state government, and 25.6 percent in federal government in 2019.

The union membership rate in manufacturing has declined from 14.9 percent in 2000 to 8.6 percent in 2019. Over the same period, the rate in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction declined from 11.3 percent to 4.0 percent. In publishing, except internet, the union membership rate was 8.0 percent in 2000 and 3.3 percent in 2019.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. To learn more, see “Union Members — 2019.” Union membership data do not include self-employed workers.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Union membership rate 8.6 percent in manufacturing, 23.4 percent in utilities, in 2019 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/union-membership-rate-8-point-6-percent-in-manufacturing-23-point-4-percent-in-utilities-in-2019.htm (visited March 29, 2024).

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