January 24, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Union membership by industry, 2005

In 2005, workers in the public sector had a union membership rate much higher than that of private-sector employees.

[Chart data—TXT]

The unionization rate for government workers was 36.5 percent in 2005, while the rate for private industry workers was 7.8 percent.

Within the public sector, local government workers had the highest union membership rate (41.9 percent). This group includes several heavily unionized occupations, such as teachers, police officers, and fire fighters. 

Among major private industries, transportation and utilities had the highest union membership rate, at 24.0 percent. Information industries (13.6 percent), construction (13.1 percent), and manufacturing (13.0 percent) also had higher-than-average rates.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. To learn more about workers represented by unions, see Union Members in 2005 (PDF) (TXT), USDL news release 06-99.  

 

Related TED article: 

• Union membership in 2005