The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported on Wednesday that union members accounted for 9.4 percent of wage and salary workers in Missouri in 2020, compared with 11.1 percent in 2019.

Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the union membership rate for the state was at its peak in 1989, when it averaged 15.5 percent, and at its low point in 2014 at 8.4 percent. Nationwide, union members accounted for 10.8 percent of employed wage and salary workers in 2020, up by 0.5 percentage point from 2019. Since 1989, when comparable state data became available, the union membership rate in Missouri has been higher than the U.S. rate on six occasions, most recently in 2019.