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July, 2001, Vol. 124, No. 7

Research summaries

Barry T. Hirsch
Professor of Economics at Trinity University;

David A. Macpherson
Professor of Economics, Florida State University;

Wayne G. Vroman 
Senior Research Associate, Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. The authors alone are responsible for the results presented in this report.

E-mail: bhirsch@trinity.edu

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Excerpt from the research summary:

Researchers, public agencies, labor unions, private analysts, and the media are among those seeking information on union density, defined here as the percentage of non-agricultural wage and salary employees (including public sector employees) who are union members. This report describes the derivation of time-consistent estimates of union density by State for the 1964–2000 period. It also provides an alternative measure of union density—the percentage of nonagricultural wage and salary workers who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement—for the years 1977–2000.

Two sources of data are combined to produce the estimates: compilations from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of U.S. households, and the now discontinued BLS publication Directory of National Unions and Employee Associations (Directory), which contains information reported by labor unions to the Federal Government.¹  Beginning in 1973, estimates are calculated directly from the May 1973 through May 1981 CPS or the January 1983 through December 2000 CPS Outgoing Rotation Group (CPS-ORG) monthly earnings files. Prior to 1973, estimates are calculated based on figures in the BLS Directories, scaled to a level consistent with CPS estimates using information on years in which the two sources overlap.

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