Regional trends
Union
membership by State
Multiple
jobholding, by State
Hawaii, New Jersey, and New York had the highest rates of union membership, all 22 percent or higher. These States, along with Michigan, have been among the five most unionized States since at least 1995. Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina had the lowest rates (between 4.2 and 5.6 percent), as they have for the past 4 years.
California (2.2 million), New York (1.9 million), and Illinois (1.0 million) were the States with the greatest number of union members. More than half the union members in the United States lived in seven States, although those States accounted for only 38 percent of nonagricultural wage and salary employment nationally.
Percent of nonagricultural
wage-and-salary worker |
||||||
United States...... | 13.9 | Missouri.............. | 13.7 | |||
Alabama................... | 9.7 | Montana.............. | 13.9 | |||
Alaska....................... | 20.4 | Nebraska.............. | 10.3 | |||
Arizona..................... | 6.5 | Nevada................. | 17.0 | |||
Arkansas.................. | 6.2 | New Hampshire | 11.0 | |||
California.................. | 16.1 | New Jersey.......... | 22.0 | |||
Colorado................... | 9.1 | New Mexico........ | 9.4 | |||
Connecticut.............. | 17.5 | New York............. | 25.4 | |||
Delaware................... | 13.6 | North Carolina.... | 4.2 | |||
District of Columbia | 13.5 | North Dakota...... | 9.1 | |||
Florida....................... | 6.7 | Ohio...................... | 19.0 | |||
Georgia...................... | 7.4 | Oklahoma............. | 8.6 | |||
Hawaii....................... | 26.5 | Oregon................. | 16.1 | |||
Idaho......................... | 7.8 | Pennsylvania...... | 16.3 | |||
Illinois....................... | 18.9 | Rhode Island....... | 19.0 | |||
Indiana...................... | 16.2 | South Carolina.... | 4.5 | |||
Iowa........................... | 12.5 | South Dakota...... | 6.4 | |||
Kansas...................... | 7.9 | Tennessee........... | 7.9 | |||
Kentucky.................. | 13.1 | Texas.................... | 5.9 | |||
Louisiana.................. | 7.8 | Utah...................... | 6.8 | |||
Maine........................ | 12.6 | Vermont............... | 9.4 | |||
Maryland.................. | 14.1 | Virginia................. | 6.8 | |||
Massachusetts........ | 15.9 | Washington........ | 21.2 | |||
Michigan.................. | 21.6 | West Virginia...... | 12.6 | |||
Minnesota................ | 18.8 | Wisconsin........... | 18.7 | |||
Mississippi............... | 5.6 | Wyoming............. | 9.6 |
Overall, 28 States and the District of Columbia had multiple jobholding rates above the U.S. average, while 19 States had lower rates. North Dakota registered the highest rate, 10.8 percent. Montana and Minnesota also had rates above 10 percent. In fact, 1998 was the fifth consecutive year that Minnesota has had a double-digit multiple jobholding rate. Louisiana recorded the lowest rate, 3.8 percent, with Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, and Texas also having rates below 5 percent. This marks the third time in the last 4 years that Louisiana has had the lowest multiple jobholding rate of all the States.
Montana and Alaska had the largest increases in multiple jobholding from the prior year, 0.9 percentage point. The largest over-the-year declines were recorded in Arkansas and Nebraska, 1.6 and 1.5 percentage points, respectively. The U.S. rate edged down by 0.1 percentage point from 1997, and has ranged from 5.9 to 6.2 percent in the past 5 years.
"Regional trends" is prepared in the Division of Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics. More information on these topics is on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/lau/ or call (202) 6066392.
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