U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

New York-New Jersey Information Office

In 2012, union members accounted for 23.2 percent of wage and salary workers in New York and 16.1 percent in New Jersey, compared with 24.1 percent and 16.1 percent, respectively, in 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that in New York, the union membership rate in 2012 declined to the lowest level recorded since 1989, when the state series began. In New Jersey, the union membership rate tied the series low attained in 2011. Both states, however, had union membership rates well above that for the nation in 2012, as union members accounted for only 11.3 percent of employed wage and salary workers in the United States. New York’s union membership rate was the highest in the nation in 2012. (See chart 1 and table A.)

New York had 1,841,000 union members in 2012 and New Jersey, 611,000. In addition to these members, another 134,000 wage and salary workers in New York and 25,000 in New Jersey were represented by a union on their main job or were covered by an employee association or contract while not union members themselves. (See table A.) Nationwide, 14.4 million wage and salary workers were union members in 2012 and 1.6 million wage and salary workers were not affiliated with a union but had jobs covered by a union contract.

In 2012, 19 states had union membership rates above the U.S. average (11.3 percent) of which 9 had rates above 15 percent. (See table 1.) Of the nine states with the highest rates, three were located in the Northeast, one in the Midwest, and the remaining five were in the West. (See chart 2.) New York had the highest rate, followed by Alaska (22.4 percent), Hawaii (21.6 percent), and Washington (18.5 percent). In fact, New York has had the highest membership rate in the nation for 16 of the past 18 years.

Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia had union membership rates below the national average of 11.3 percent in 2012. Eight of these states had union membership rates below 5.0 percent, with North Carolina having the lowest, 2.9 percent. The next lowest rates were recorded in Arkansas (3.2 percent), South Carolina (3.3 percent), Mississippi (4.3 percent), Georgia and Virginia (4.4 percent each), and Idaho and Tennessee (4.8 percent each).

About half of the 14.4 million union members in the United States lived in just seven states (California, 2.5 million; New York, 1.8 million; Illinois 0.8 million; Pennsylvania, 0.7 million; and Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio, 0.6 million each), though these states accounted for only about one-third of wage and salary employment nationally.

State union membership levels depend on both the union membership rate and the employment level. For example, despite having 2.7 million fewer wage and salary employees statewide, New York had over three times as many union members as Texas. Similarly, New Jersey, with about 120,000 fewer wage and salary employees, had roughly four times as many union members as Georgia.

Technical Note

The estimates in this release are obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), which provides the basic information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment. The survey is conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau from a scientifically selected national sample of about 60,000 households. The union membership and earnings data are tabulated from one-quarter of the CPS monthly sample and are limited to wage and salary workers. All self-employed workers are excluded.

Union membership data, particularly for levels, are not strictly comparable with data for earlier years because of the introduction of updated population controls used in the CPS. These updated controls have little or no effect on unemployment rates and other ratios, such as union membership rates. For technical documentation and related information, including reliability of the CPS estimates, see www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200, Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

Definitions

The principal definitions used in this release are described briefly below.

Union members. Members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union.

Represented by unions. Union members, as well as workers who have no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union or an employee association contract.

Wage and salary workers. Workers who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payment in kind, or piece rates. The group includes employees in both the private and public sectors, but, for the purposes of the union membership and earnings series, excludes all self-employed persons, regardless of whether or not their businesses are incorporated.