Labor Department survey underscores perpetual slide of trades’ unionization rate

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show the percentage of U.S. construction workers belonging to unions dropped from 13.9 in 2014 to 13.2 last year. The figures are based on rank-and-file totals of 968,000 and 940,000 against 2014 and 2015 workforces, respectively, of 6.97 million and 7.1 million. The total percentage of construction workers represented by unions—local or association members plus workers whose jobs are covered by a union contract—was 14.7 and 14.0 for 2014 and 2015.

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AGC: Construction unemployment drops to seven-year low

Source: Associated General Contractors of America, Washington, D.C.

Construction employers added 16,000 jobs last month as sector unemployment fell to 7 percent, the lowest rate for September since 2007, according to an AGC analysis of monthly employment figures the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released October 3.

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