BLS Survey: Union Membership Dropped to Lowest Known Levels in 2022

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the 2022 Union Members Summary. The full release can be found here, with notable takeaways below:

• Union membership in 2022 dropped to the lowest level in the history of BLS’s survey. 10.1% of workers were members of a union in 2022, down from 10.3% in 2021.
• The number of union members increased by 273,000 but was outpaced by the growth of non-union jobs. Of that increase, 80,000 were in the public sector and 193,000 were private sector.
• Private sector union membership fell by 0.1% to 6%.
• • Private sector occupations with highest membership rates: utilities (19.6%), motion pictures and sound recording (17.3%), transportation and warehousing (14.5%).
  • Lowest membership rates in private sector: insurance (1.2%), finance (1.3%), professional and technical services (1.3), and food services and drinking places (1.4%).

• Public sector membership fell by 0.8% to 33.1%.
  • Federal government unionization rate fell by 0.5% to 24.4%.
  • State government unionization rate rose by 0.3% to 29.9%.
  • Local government union membership fell by 1.4% to 38.8%.

• 30 states had unionization rates lower than the national average.
  • South Caroline had the lowest unionization rate at 1.7%.
  • Hawaii had the highest unionization rate at 21.9%.
  • 30% of union members live in California and New York.

Bureau of Labor Statistics 2022 Union Members Summary: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm

Bureau of Labor Statistics Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey: https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpslutabs.htm