The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the union membership rate — the percentage of union members among wage and salary workers — was down slightly from 10.1 percent in 2022 to 10 percent in 2023.
The total number of union members stayed relatively flat at 14.4 million.
Of the 2.7 million jobs added in 2023, union members made up just 139,000.
The new data follows a renaissance year for organized labor, including the months-long strike by the Writers Guild of America, who were joined by Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
The United Auto Workers (UAW), Teamsters and a coalition of health care workers also garnered significant media attention for their organizing efforts.
Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su praised the new data, noting 400,000 union workers added during the last two years of the Biden administration.
“The gains under the Biden-Harris administration underscore President Biden’s commitment to being the most pro-worker, pro-union president in history,” Su said in the statement.
“These are workers who recognize that they have power and are organizing to use that power. Workers in health care, auto manufacturing, transportation, entertainment and more have delivered big wins at the bargaining table in the past year,” she added.
The Hill’s Sarah Fortinsky has more here.
