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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.
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 |
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 |
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.
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 October 31, 2024).