In 2012, union members accounted for 9.2 percent of wage and salary workers in Alabama, compared with 10.0 percent in 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that this was the lowest union membership rate for the state since 2006 when it was at 8.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Nationwide, union members accounted for 11.3 percent of employed wage and salary workers in 2012, down from 11.8 percent a year ago. Since the start of the state series in 1989, the union membership rate in Alabama has been below the national rate.

Alabama had 166,000 union members in 2012. In addition to these members, another 24,000 wage and salary workers in Alabama were represented by a union on their main job or 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.

Table A. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers in Alabama, annual averages, 2003-2012 (Numbers in thousands)

Year	Total employed	Members of unions (1)		Represented by unions (2)
		Total	Percent of employed	Total	Percent of employed
2003	1,822	147	8.1	172	9.5
2004	1,861	181	9.7	213	11.5
2005	1,909	195	10.2	223	11.7
2006	1,930	170	8.8	194	10.0
2007	1,895	180	9.5	201	10.6
2008	1,858	181	9.8	199	10.7
2009	1,763	191	10.9	212	12.0
2010	1,809	183	10.1	203	11.2
2011	1,781	178	10.0	193	10.8
2012	1,807	166	9.2	190	10.5
Footnotes: (1) Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union. (2) Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union, as well as workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union or an employee association contract.
NOTE: Data refer to the sole or principal job of full-and part-time wage and salary workers. Excluded are all self-employed workers regardless of whether or not their businesses are incorporated. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

In 2012, 19 states had union membership rates above the U.S. average, of which 9 had rates above 15 percent. (See table 1.) Of the 9 states with the highest rates, 3 were located in the Northeast, 1 in the Midwest, and the remaining 5 bordered the Pacific Ocean. (See chart 2.) New York had the highest rate (23.2 percent), 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), and Mississippi (4.3 percent).

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 state wage and salary employment level and the union membership rate. For example, with a union membership rate of 5.7 percent, Texas had about one-third as many union members as New York, despite having 2.7 million more wage and salary employees. North Carolina and Hawaii had comparable numbers of union members (112,000 and 116,000, respectively), though North Carolina's wage and salary employment level (3.8 million) was nearly seven times that of Hawaii (537,000).

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 eligible 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: (800) 877-8339.

Definitions

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

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

Represented by unions. Data refer to both union members and workers who report 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. Union membership and earnings data exclude all self-employed workers, both those with incorporated businesses as well as those with unincorporated businesses.

Table 1. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by state, 2011-2012 annual averages

[Numbers in thousands]

State	2011					2012
	Total employed	Members of unions (1)		Represented by unions (2)		Total employed	Members of unions (1)		Represented by unions (2)
		Total	Percent of employed	Total	Percent of employed		Total	Percent of employed	Total	Percent of employed
Alabama	1,781	178	10.0	193	10.8	1,807	166	9.2	190	10.5
Alaska	306	68	22.1	73	23.7	298	67	22.4	71	23.9
Arizona	2,493	149	6.0	183	7.3	2,434	125	5.1	159	6.5
Arkansas	1,116	47	4.2	57	5.1	1,157	37	3.2	43	3.7
California	13,931	2,379	17.1	2,532	18.2	14,483	2,489	17.2	2,666	18.4
Colorado	2,186	179	8.2	203	9.3	2,165	169	7.8	190	8.8
Connecticut	1,542	259	16.8	272	17.7	1,541	216	14.0	232	15.1
Delaware	370	39	10.5	42	11.2	377	39	10.4	44	11.8
District of Columbia	281	23	8.3	28	9.9	309	27	8.6	32	10.3
Florida	7,283	460	6.3	557	7.6	7,602	440	5.8	555	7.3
Georgia	3,876	153	3.9	185	4.8	3,914	171	4.4	210	5.4
Hawaii	525	113	21.5	118	22.5	537	116	21.6	124	23.2
Idaho	594	31	5.1	36	6.1	613	29	4.8	36	5.8
Illinois	5,408	876	16.2	929	17.2	5,486	801	14.6	852	15.5
Indiana	2,681	302	11.3	333	12.4	2,702	246	9.1	269	10.0
Iowa	1,386	155	11.2	187	13.5	1,390	145	10.4	172	12.4
Kansas	1,268	97	7.6	128	10.1	1,248	85	6.8	105	8.4
Kentucky	1,678	150	8.9	173	10.3	1,742	174	10.0	198	11.4
Louisiana	1,717	77	4.5	91	5.3	1,733	107	6.2	130	7.5
Maine	554	63	11.3	74	13.4	559	64	11.5	78	13.9
Maryland	2,549	316	12.4	348	13.7	2,636	280	10.6	325	12.3
Massachusetts	2,882	422	14.6	445	15.4	2,896	417	14.4	470	16.2
Michigan	3,838	671	17.5	703	18.3	3,785	629	16.6	648	17.1
Minnesota	2,461	371	15.1	390	15.8	2,465	351	14.2	368	14.9
Mississippi	1,081	54	5.0	73	6.8	1,113	48	4.3	64	5.7
Missouri	2,531	275	10.9	316	12.5	2,507	224	8.9	253	10.1
Montana	377	49	13.0	55	14.6	392	54	13.9	65	16.5
Nebraska	828	65	7.9	83	10.0	864	52	6.0	70	8.1
Nevada	1,050	154	14.6	175	16.6	1,101	162	14.7	181	16.4
New Hampshire	617	68	11.1	77	12.5	621	65	10.5	74	12.0
New Jersey	3,816	615	16.1	641	16.8	3,796	611	16.1	636	16.8
New Mexico	726	49	6.8	65	9.0	780	50	6.5	68	8.7
New York	7,920	1,906	24.1	2,068	26.1	7,936	1,841	23.2	1,975	24.9
North Carolina	3,589	105	2.9	149	4.1	3,805	112	2.9	162	4.3
North Dakota	318	20	6.3	27	8.6	329	20	6.1	27	8.2
Ohio	4,813	647	13.4	706	14.7	4,800	604	12.6	665	13.9
Oklahoma	1,458	94	6.4	113	7.7	1,531	115	7.5	140	9.1
Oregon	1,574	270	17.1	286	18.1	1,526	240	15.7	250	16.4
Pennsylvania	5,348	779	14.6	846	15.8	5,452	734	13.5	787	14.4
Rhode Island	453	79	17.4	81	17.9	455	81	17.8	84	18.4
South Carolina	1,726	59	3.4	86	5.0	1,773	58	3.3	82	4.6
South Dakota	359	18	5.1	23	6.5	351	20	5.6	24	6.7
Tennessee	2,504	115	4.6	139	5.6	2,586	124	4.8	152	5.9
Texas	10,214	534	5.2	643	6.3	10,590	599	5.7	721	6.8
Utah	1,150	67	5.8	82	7.1	1,179	61	5.2	77	6.6
Vermont	290	35	12.0	39	13.5	288	31	10.7	38	13.1
Virginia	3,550	163	4.6	198	5.6	3,592	159	4.4	197	5.5
Washington	2,727	517	19.0	557	20.4	2,776	513	18.5	541	19.5
West Virginia	672	93	13.8	102	15.2	697	84	12.1	91	13.1
Wisconsin	2,538	339	13.3	358	14.1	2,605	293	11.2	312	12.0
Wyoming	250	18	7.2	21	8.4	252	17	6.7	20	8.1
Footnotes (1) Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union. (2) Data refer to both union members and workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union or an employee association contract.
NOTE: Data refer to the sole or principal job of full- and part-time wage and salary workers. All self-employed workers are excluded, both those with incorporated businesses as well as those with unincorporated businesses. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | Southeast Information Office, Suite 7T50, 61 Forsyth St., S.W., Atlanta, GA 30303

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