Table 2: Union membership and union coverage, 12-months ending December, 2019 to 2023
By broad private sector industry
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Change
2023-2022 2023-2019
Coverage (%)
Agriculture and related industries 2.8% 1.9% 3.1% 4.4% 2.6% −1.8 −0.2
Mining 4.6% 6.6% 6.0% 7.7% 4.9% −2.9 0.3
Construction 13.6% 13.4% 13.6% 12.4% 11.4% −1.0 −2.2
Manufacturing 9.4% 9.3% 8.5% 8.6% 9.1% 0.5 −0.4
Durable goods manufacturing 9.6% 9.4% 8.3% 8.9% 9.1% 0.3 −0.5
Nondurable goods manufacturing 9.2% 9.0% 8.8% 8.2% 8.9% 0.8 −0.2
Wholesale and retail trade 4.8% 5.0% 4.9% 4.8% 4.6% −0.2 −0.2
Wholesale trade 5.0% 4.7% 4.5% 3.9% 5.1% 1.2 0.1
Retail trade 4.7% 5.1% 5.0% 5.0% 4.5% −0.5 −0.2
Transportation and utilities 18.7% 18.8% 16.8% 16.1% 17.5% 1.4 −1.1
Transportation and warehousing 17.6% 18.2% 16.1% 15.5% 17.0% 1.5 −0.7
Utilities 24.0% 22.0% 20.9% 20.7% 20.8% 0.1 −3.2
Information 11.2% 10.3% 11.2% 9.1% 7.8% −1.3 −3.4
Publishing industries (except internet) 3.7% 2.6% 7.3% 6.0% 4.1% −1.9 0.4
Motion picture and sound recording industries 14.7% 15.0% 18.4% 17.8% 12.6% −5.2 −2.1
Broadcasting (except internet) 11.9% 8.7% 10.7% 11.5% 9.9% −1.5 −2.0
Telecommunications 15.3% 15.7% 13.0% 9.2% 9.9% 0.6 −5.4
Internet publishing and broadcasting 3.7% 2.5% 1.4% 2.3% 2.2% −0.2 −1.6
Internet service providers and data processing services 1.2% 3.2% 6.7% 1.6% 0.0% −1.6 −1.2
Other information services 5.2% 8.6% 7.8% 0.8% 9.4% 8.6 4.3
Financial activities 2.5% 2.7% 3.1% 2.5% 2.4% −0.2 −0.2
Finance 1.7% 2.1% 1.8% 2.0% 1.7% −0.3 0.0
Insurance 1.9% 2.4% 2.3% 1.8% 2.3% 0.4 0.3
Real estate 4.7% 4.4% 6.7% 4.4% 3.7% −0.8 −1.1
Rental and leasing services 4.5% 3.8% 5.6% 5.0% 4.4% −0.7 −0.1
Professional and business services 3.0% 3.0% 2.9% 2.8% 3.0% 0.2 0.0
Management, administrative, and waste services 4.5% 4.9% 5.1% 4.9% 5.1% 0.2 0.6
Professional and technical services 2.2% 2.1% 2.0% 1.8% 2.0% 0.2 −0.2
Educational and health services 9.2% 9.7% 9.2% 9.0% 9.3% 0.2 0.1
Educational services 14.1% 15.5% 15.1% 14.4% 14.8% 0.5 0.8
Health care and social assistance 7.9% 8.3% 7.7% 7.6% 7.8% 0.1 −0.1
Leisure and hospitality 3.5% 2.7% 2.7% 3.4% 3.4% 0.1 0.0
Arts, entertainment, and recreation 7.3% 5.8% 5.5% 7.6% 7.5% −0.1 0.1
Accommodation 7.0% 6.5% 6.4% 7.3% 7.9% 0.6 0.9
Food services and drinking places 1.9% 1.5% 1.6% 1.7% 1.6% −0.1 −0.3
Other services 3.3% 3.0% 3.7% 3.3% 3.6% 0.3 0.3
Other services, except private households 3.6% 3.4% 3.8% 3.5% 3.8% 0.3 0.2
Private households 1.1% 0.5% 2.8% 1.3% 1.5% 0.2 0.4
Membership (%)
Agriculture and related industries 1.6% 1.7% 2.9% 3.9% 2.2% −1.7 0.5
Mining 4.0% 5.6% 5.8% 6.5% 4.3% −2.2 0.3
Construction 12.6% 12.7% 12.5% 11.8% 10.7% −1.1 −2.0
Manufacturing 8.6% 8.5% 7.6% 7.8% 7.9% 0.1 −0.6
Durable goods manufacturing 8.8% 8.6% 7.4% 8.0% 8.0% 0.1 −0.8
Nondurable goods manufacturing 8.2% 8.2% 8.0% 7.6% 7.7% 0.1 −0.5
Wholesale and retail trade 4.1% 4.5% 4.3% 4.1% 3.9% −0.3 −0.2
Wholesale trade 4.5% 4.2% 3.7% 3.3% 4.7% 1.4 0.2
Retail trade 4.0% 4.6% 4.4% 4.3% 3.7% −0.6 −0.3
Transportation and utilities 17.3% 17.6% 15.4% 15.2% 16.5% 1.3 −0.8
Transportation and warehousing 16.1% 17.1% 14.7% 14.5% 15.9% 1.3 −0.2
Utilities 23.4% 20.5% 19.6% 19.7% 19.9% 0.2 −3.5
Information 10.3% 9.3% 10.0% 8.4% 7.4% −1.0 −2.9
Publishing industries (except internet) 3.3% 2.5% 5.7% 4.7% 3.6% −1.1 0.3
Motion picture and sound recording industries 13.6% 13.9% 17.4% 17.3% 12.1% −5.1 −1.5
Broadcasting (except internet) 11.0% 7.7% 8.9% 11.3% 9.6% −1.7 −1.4
Telecommunications 14.0% 14.3% 12.0% 8.3% 9.4% 1.1 −4.7
Internet publishing and broadcasting 3.0% 1.8% 0.6% 1.7% 2.2% 0.5 −0.8
Internet service providers and data processing services 1.2% 1.4% 5.5% 1.6% 0.0% −1.6 −1.2
Other information services 4.5% 8.6% 7.8% 0.4% 9.4% 9.1 4.9
Financial activities 1.9% 1.9% 2.3% 1.8% 1.7% −0.1 −0.2
Finance 1.1% 1.2% 1.2% 1.3% 1.2% −0.1 0.1
Insurance 1.4% 1.7% 1.5% 1.2% 1.5% 0.3 0.1
Real estate 4.0% 3.5% 5.2% 3.6% 2.7% −0.8 −1.3
Rental and leasing services 4.0% 3.1% 4.8% 3.9% 4.4% 0.5 0.4
Professional and business services 2.2% 2.2% 2.2% 2.2% 2.3% 0.0 0.1
Management, administrative, and waste services 3.6% 4.0% 4.2% 4.2% 4.2% 0.0 0.6
Professional and technical services 1.4% 1.3% 1.2% 1.3% 1.3% 0.1 0.0
Educational and health services 8.0% 8.4% 7.9% 7.8% 8.1% 0.4 0.2
Educational services 12.3% 13.4% 12.9% 12.3% 12.9% 0.6 0.6
Health care and social assistance 6.8% 7.1% 6.6% 6.6% 6.8% 0.3 0.0
Leisure and hospitality 2.9% 2.2% 2.2% 2.8% 2.9% 0.1 0.0
Arts, entertainment, and recreation 6.6% 4.7% 4.8% 6.3% 6.2% −0.1 −0.4
Accommodation 6.4% 5.7% 5.8% 6.9% 7.4% 0.5 1.0
Food services and drinking places 1.4% 1.2% 1.2% 1.4% 1.4% 0.0 0.0
Other services 2.8% 2.5% 3.1% 2.8% 3.1% 0.2 0.3
Other services, except private households 3.1% 2.8% 3.2% 3.1% 3.2% 0.1 0.2
Private households 1.1% 0.5% 2.7% 0.5% 1.5% 1.0 0.4
Coverage
Agriculture and related industries 38,000 24,000 41,000 55,000 32,000 −22,000 −6,000
Mining 33,000 44,000 34,000 43,000 28,000 −15,000 −4,000
Construction 1,133,000 1,050,000 1,109,000 1,077,000 1,016,000 −61,000 −117,000
Manufacturing 1,424,000 1,285,000 1,198,000 1,256,000 1,353,000 98,000 −70,000
Durable goods manufacturing 914,000 819,000 747,000 826,000 878,000 52,000 −35,000
Nondurable goods manufacturing 510,000 466,000 451,000 430,000 475,000 45,000 −35,000
Wholesale and retail trade 867,000 877,000 881,000 860,000 826,000 −35,000 −41,000
Wholesale trade 160,000 146,000 140,000 111,000 149,000 38,000 −11,000
Retail trade 706,000 731,000 741,000 750,000 677,000 −73,000 −29,000
Transportation and utilities 1,258,000 1,212,000 1,184,000 1,219,000 1,336,000 117,000 78,000
Transportation and warehousing 997,000 979,000 975,000 1,019,000 1,102,000 82,000 104,000
Utilities 261,000 233,000 209,000 200,000 235,000 35,000 −26,000
Information 263,000 222,000 254,000 215,000 200,000 −14,000 −63,000
Publishing industries (except internet) 13,000 9,000 23,000 24,000 24,000 0 10,000
Motion picture and sound recording industries 57,000 43,000 65,000 76,000 49,000 −27,000 −8,000
Broadcasting (except internet) 57,000 35,000 39,000 35,000 27,000 −8,000 −30,000
Telecommunications 125,000 122,000 110,000 71,000 87,000 16,000 −38,000
Internet publishing and broadcasting 6,000 5,000 3,000 5,000 5,000 −1,000 −1,000
Internet service providers and data processing services 1,000 3,000 7,000 2,000 0 −2,000 −1,000
Other information services 4,000 6,000 7,000 1,000 9,000 8,000 5,000
Financial activities 236,000 244,000 279,000 237,000 219,000 −17,000 −17,000
Finance 74,000 92,000 77,000 89,000 75,000 −14,000 0
Insurance 50,000 60,000 58,000 48,000 59,000 12,000 9,000
Real estate 96,000 81,000 128,000 86,000 70,000 −16,000 −26,000
Rental and leasing services 15,000 11,000 15,000 14,000 15,000 1,000 0
Professional and business services 472,000 441,000 452,000 466,000 505,000 39,000 33,000
Management, administrative, and waste services 245,000 233,000 246,000 264,000 276,000 12,000 32,000
Professional and technical services 227,000 208,000 206,000 202,000 229,000 27,000 1,000
Educational and health services 2,180,000 2,180,000 2,108,000 2,136,000 2,259,000 123,000 78,000
Educational services 692,000 699,000 710,000 702,000 763,000 62,000 72,000
Health care and social assistance 1,489,000 1,481,000 1,398,000 1,434,000 1,495,000 61,000 6,000
Leisure and hospitality 457,000 279,000 303,000 406,000 436,000 31,000 −21,000
Arts, entertainment, and recreation 184,000 106,000 111,000 173,000 190,000 17,000 6,000
Accommodation 99,000 59,000 63,000 85,000 101,000 16,000 2,000
Food services and drinking places 173,000 114,000 130,000 147,000 145,000 −3,000 −28,000
Other services 202,000 163,000 208,000 194,000 212,000 18,000 11,000
Other services, except private households 193,000 159,000 189,000 186,000 203,000 17,000 10,000
Private households 9,000 4,000 18,000 8,000 10,000 1,000 0
Membership
Agriculture and related industries 22,000 21,000 38,000 49,000 27,000 −22,000 5,000
Mining 28,000 37,000 32,000 36,000 25,000 −11,000 −3,000
Construction 1,055,000 993,000 1,021,000 1,019,000 953,000 −67,000 −102,000
Manufacturing 1,291,000 1,178,000 1,078,000 1,141,000 1,182,000 41,000 −109,000
Durable goods manufacturing 836,000 752,000 666,000 742,000 772,000 30,000 −63,000
Nondurable goods manufacturing 455,000 426,000 412,000 399,000 410,000 11,000 −45,000
Wholesale and retail trade 744,000 790,000 770,000 742,000 699,000 −43,000 −46,000
Wholesale trade 143,000 132,000 116,000 94,000 137,000 43,000 −7,000
Retail trade 601,000 657,000 653,000 648,000 562,000 −86,000 −39,000
Transportation and utilities 1,165,000 1,135,000 1,086,000 1,147,000 1,255,000 107,000 89,000
Transportation and warehousing 911,000 916,000 890,000 957,000 1,030,000 73,000 118,000
Utilities 254,000 218,000 196,000 190,000 225,000 34,000 −29,000
Information 242,000 200,000 227,000 198,000 191,000 −7,000 −51,000
Publishing industries (except internet) 12,000 8,000 18,000 19,000 21,000 2,000 9,000
Motion picture and sound recording industries 53,000 40,000 61,000 74,000 47,000 −27,000 −6,000
Broadcasting (except internet) 53,000 30,000 33,000 35,000 26,000 −9,000 −27,000
Telecommunications 115,000 111,000 101,000 64,000 83,000 19,000 −32,000
Internet publishing and broadcasting 5,000 4,000 1,000 4,000 5,000 1,000 0
Internet service providers and data processing services 1,000 1,000 6,000 2,000 0 −2,000 −1,000
Other information services 3,000 6,000 7,000 0 9,000 8,000 5,000
Financial activities 181,000 169,000 206,000 169,000 162,000 −8,000 −20,000
Finance 49,000 53,000 53,000 59,000 55,000 −4,000 6,000
Insurance 37,000 42,000 38,000 30,000 39,000 9,000 2,000
Real estate 81,000 65,000 101,000 69,000 52,000 −17,000 −29,000
Rental and leasing services 14,000 9,000 13,000 11,000 15,000 4,000 2,000
Professional and business services 340,000 323,000 335,000 372,000 382,000 10,000 42,000
Management, administrative, and waste services 197,000 191,000 206,000 229,000 230,000 1,000 33,000
Professional and technical services 143,000 132,000 129,000 143,000 152,000 9,000 10,000
Educational and health services 1,884,000 1,879,000 1,806,000 1,837,000 1,978,000 141,000 94,000
Educational services 606,000 606,000 606,000 604,000 664,000 61,000 58,000
Health care and social assistance 1,277,000 1,273,000 1,200,000 1,233,000 1,313,000 80,000 36,000
Leisure and hospitality 383,000 224,000 252,000 340,000 374,000 34,000 −10,000
Arts, entertainment, and recreation 164,000 86,000 96,000 143,000 157,000 13,000 −8,000
Accommodation 92,000 52,000 57,000 81,000 95,000 14,000 3,000
Food services and drinking places 127,000 86,000 98,000 116,000 122,000 6,000 −5,000
Other services 172,000 134,000 175,000 168,000 182,000 14,000 10,000
Other services, except private households 163,000 130,000 158,000 164,000 172,000 8,000 10,000
Private households 9,000 3,000 17,000 3,000 10,000 6,000 0
Total employment
Agriculture and related industries 1,355,000 1,283,000 1,310,000 1,252,000 1,248,000 −4,000 −108,000
Mining 708,000 656,000 562,000 556,000 578,000 22,000 −129,000
Construction 8,349,000 7,832,000 8,149,000 8,673,000 8,918,000 245,000 569,000
Manufacturing 15,065,000 13,885,000 14,128,000 14,575,000 14,917,000 342,000 −148,000
Durable goods manufacturing 9,499,000 8,701,000 8,984,000 9,302,000 9,600,000 298,000 101,000
Nondurable goods manufacturing 5,566,000 5,184,000 5,144,000 5,273,000 5,317,000 44,000 −250,000
Wholesale and retail trade 18,139,000 17,419,000 18,084,000 17,884,000 18,032,000 148,000 −106,000
Wholesale trade 3,183,000 3,115,000 3,115,000 2,877,000 2,924,000 47,000 −259,000
Retail trade 14,956,000 14,304,000 14,969,000 15,007,000 15,108,000 101,000 152,000
Transportation and utilities 6,746,000 6,437,000 7,054,000 7,558,000 7,621,000 64,000 875,000
Transportation and warehousing 5,662,000 5,374,000 6,053,000 6,591,000 6,493,000 −98,000 832,000
Utilities 1,085,000 1,062,000 1,001,000 966,000 1,128,000 162,000 43,000
Information 2,353,000 2,160,000 2,276,000 2,358,000 2,580,000 222,000 227,000
Publishing industries (except internet) 356,000 337,000 312,000 397,000 578,000 181,000 222,000
Motion picture and sound recording industries 388,000 286,000 352,000 429,000 389,000 −39,000 1,000
Broadcasting (except internet) 482,000 397,000 368,000 309,000 272,000 −38,000 −210,000
Telecommunications 820,000 778,000 843,000 770,000 884,000 115,000 64,000
Internet publishing and broadcasting 153,000 197,000 197,000 229,000 209,000 −19,000 56,000
Internet service providers and data processing services 81,000 96,000 109,000 133,000 155,000 23,000 75,000
Other information services 73,000 68,000 95,000 92,000 92,000 0 19,000
Financial activities 9,359,000 9,097,000 9,095,000 9,325,000 9,283,000 −42,000 −76,000
Finance 4,390,000 4,486,000 4,385,000 4,519,000 4,426,000 −93,000 36,000
Insurance 2,590,000 2,480,000 2,510,000 2,590,000 2,595,000 5,000 5,000
Real estate 2,038,000 1,844,000 1,926,000 1,928,000 1,912,000 −17,000 −126,000
Rental and leasing services 340,000 285,000 274,000 286,000 350,000 63,000 9,000
Professional and business services 15,722,000 14,932,000 15,383,000 16,568,000 16,812,000 244,000 1,090,000
Management, administrative, and waste services 5,443,000 4,784,000 4,864,000 5,393,000 5,455,000 62,000 12,000
Professional and technical services 10,279,000 10,148,000 10,519,000 11,175,000 11,357,000 182,000 1,078,000
Educational and health services 23,685,000 22,367,000 22,876,000 23,641,000 24,335,000 694,000 650,000
Educational services 4,919,000 4,513,000 4,691,000 4,890,000 5,150,000 259,000 231,000
Health care and social assistance 18,766,000 17,854,000 18,185,000 18,750,000 19,185,000 435,000 419,000
Leisure and hospitality 13,128,000 10,177,000 11,258,000 12,076,000 12,705,000 630,000 −422,000
Arts, entertainment, and recreation 2,507,000 1,814,000 2,009,000 2,285,000 2,540,000 255,000 34,000
Accommodation 1,427,000 914,000 979,000 1,174,000 1,287,000 112,000 −140,000
Food services and drinking places 9,194,000 7,449,000 8,271,000 8,616,000 8,878,000 262,000 −316,000
Other services 6,146,000 5,344,000 5,632,000 5,936,000 5,964,000 28,000 −182,000
Other services, except private households 5,323,000 4,668,000 4,986,000 5,270,000 5,310,000 41,000 −12,000
Private households 824,000 676,000 645,000 666,000 654,000 −12,000 −170,000
Sample size
Agriculture and related industries 1,648 1,420 1,435 1,313 1,274
Mining 1,126 960 834 753 763
Construction 8,929 7,610 7,761 7,691 7,560
Manufacturing 16,117 13,696 13,693 13,054 12,792
Durable goods manufacturing 10,078 8,562 8,664 8,334 8,163
Nondurable goods manufacturing 6,039 5,134 5,029 4,720 4,629
Wholesale and retail trade 19,746 17,493 17,756 16,408 15,678
Wholesale trade 3,433 3,152 3,078 2,640 2,536
Retail trade 16,313 14,341 14,678 13,768 13,142
Transportation and utilities 7,026 6,271 6,596 6,585 6,398
Transportation and warehousing 5,794 5,127 5,547 5,609 5,316
Utilities 1,232 1,144 1,049 976 1,082
Information 2,459 2,107 2,142 2,079 2,119
Publishing industries (except internet) 399 357 322 366 482
Motion picture and sound recording industries 364 245 294 327 286
Broadcasting (except internet) 498 415 359 297 242
Telecommunications 869 754 804 693 744
Internet publishing and broadcasting 148 171 164 183 155
Internet service providers and data processing services 89 94 100 120 118
Other information services 92 71 99 93 92
Financial activities 9,920 8,909 8,732 8,333 7,892
Finance 4,693 4,387 4,197 4,059 3,801
Insurance 2,719 2,422 2,397 2,306 2,187
Real estate 2,155 1,814 1,853 1,709 1,621
Rental and leasing services 353 286 285 259 283
Professional and business services 16,155 14,232 14,279 14,437 13,848
Management, administrative, and waste services 5,497 4,459 4,426 4,604 4,407
Professional and technical services 10,658 9,773 9,853 9,833 9,441
Educational and health services 26,141 22,994 22,845 21,863 21,357
Educational services 5,322 4,619 4,606 4,470 4,411
Health care and social assistance 20,819 18,375 18,239 17,393 16,946
Leisure and hospitality 13,801 9,833 10,616 10,650 10,499
Arts, entertainment, and recreation 2,699 1,779 1,909 2,038 2,129
Accommodation 1,700 1,024 1,096 1,161 1,221
Food services and drinking places 9,402 7,030 7,611 7,451 7,149
Other services 6,797 5,525 5,557 5,522 5,295
Other services, except private households 5,970 4,869 4,972 4,965 4,746
Private households 827 656 585 557 549
* Many estimates here and in the final published BLS report are subject to substantial sampling error due to small underlying sample sizes.
Note: Workers 16 and older; excludes self-employed and self-incorporated. Changes may not match exactly due to rounding.
Source: Economic Policy Institute. 2020. Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 1.0.47, https://microdata.epi.org.