Source: Unionstats.com
Latest Data: 2023
Release Timing: February
Frequency: Annual
Contact: Barry Hirsch, (202) 691-6378, bhirsch@gsu.edu

The data given here are the percentages of employees who are covered by union collective bargaining agreements in the total workforce, the public sector, and the private sector.  The data come from the Union Membership and Coverage Database, available at www.unionstats.com, which "is an Internet data resource providing private and public sector labor union membership, coverage, and density estimates compiled from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly household survey, using BLS methods. . . The Database, constructed by Barry Hirsch (Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University) and David Macpherson (Department of Economics, Trinity University), is updated annually."

A description of the database is provided in the following pdf: Barry T. Hirsch and David A. Macpherson, "Union Membership and Coverage Database from the Current Population Survey: Note," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 56, No. 2, January 2003, pp. 349-54. 

Data Sources: Current Population Survey (CPS) Outgoing Rotation Group (ORG) Earnings Files, 2019. Sample includes employed wage and salary workers, ages 16 and over. Variable definitions are: State Code=Census state code used in CPS, Obs=CPS sample size, Employment=wage and salary employment, Members=employed workers who are union members, Covered=workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement, %Mem=percent of employed workers who are union members, and %Cov=percent of employed workers who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

© 2020 by Barry T. Hirsch and David A. Macpherson.