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Union employment down 2.2 percent in 2020; total wage and salary employment down 6.7 percent
January 27, 2021
The number of union members, at 14.3 million in 2020, was down by 321,000, or 2.2 percent, from 2019. At 132.2 million in 2020, the number of wage and salary workers declined sharply from the prior year (by 9.6 million, or 6.7 percent). The large decline in wage and salary employment (mostly among nonunion workers) led to an increase of 0.5 percentage point in the union membership rate (10.8 percent). In 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent, and there were 17.7 million union workers.
Change in employment for total wage and salary workers and union members, 1984–2020
Year
Total wage and salary workers
Union members
1984
3,904,000
-377,000
1985
2,327,000
-344,000
1986
2,382,000
-21,000
1987
2,400,000
-62,000
1988
2,104,000
89,000
1989
2,073,000
-42,000
1990
1,396,000
-184,000
1991
-1,153,000
-164,000
1992
945,000
-194,000
1993
1,433,000
209,000
1994
1,888,000
121,000
1995
2,049,000
-388,000
1996
1,922,000
-91,000
1997
2,573,000
-159,000
1998
2,197,000
101,000
1999
2,233,000
266,000
2000
3,126,000
-143,000
2001
140,000
-29,000
2002
-403,000
-160,000
2003
532,000
-369,000
2004
1,196,000
-304,000
2005
2,335,000
213,000
2006
2,348,000
-326,000
2007
1,530,000
311,000
2008
-390,000
428,000
2009
-4,887,000
-771,000
2010
-417,000
-612,000
2011
1,114,000
49,000
2012
2,390,000
-398,000
2013
1,533,000
162,000
2014
2,321,000
48,000
2015
2,312,000
219,000
2016
2,358,000
-240,000
2017
1,789,000
262,000
2018
2,209,000
-73,000
2019
1,638,000
-170,000
2020
-9,563,000
-321,000
In 2020, the percentage decline in wage and salary employment was disproportionately large for most demographic and worker groups. Notably, the number of women who were union members changed little (+0.7 percent) from the previous year, while wage and salary employment among women was down by 7.2 percent.
Similarly, the number of White union workers decreased by 2.4 percent, and the number of White wage and salary workers decreased by 6.4 percent. The number of Black (+0.6 percent) and Hispanic (+2.5 percent) union members changed little. However, the number of Black wage and salary workers declined 8.3 percent, and the number of Hispanic wage and salary workers fell 7.3 percent.
In local government, the number of union members changed little (+0.6 percent), while total wage and salary employment decreased by 4.9 percent. For all of these groups, the steep decline in total wage and salary employment in 2020 put upward pressure on their respective union membership rates.
Percentage change in total wage and salary workers and union members, by selected characteristics, 2019–20
Characteristic
Total wage and salary workers
Union members
Total
-6.7%
-2.2%
Men
-6.3
-4.6
Women
-7.2
0.7
White
-6.4
-2.4
Black
-8.3
0.6
Asian
-7.7
-6.2
Hispanic
-7.3
2.5
Private sector
-7.6
-5.7
Federal government
2.5
4.1
State government
0.3
2.1
Local government
-4.9
0.6
Note: Union membership data do not include self-employed workers. People whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.
These data are from the Current Population Survey. To learn more, see “Union Members — 2020.” The union membership rate is calculated by dividing the number of union members by the number of wage and salary workers. Union membership data do not include self-employed workers. People whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.
United States Department of Labor
