Union membership in the U.S. remained stable in 2001 despite economic uncertainty and massive layoffs after the events of Sept. 11.

According to figures released last month by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of union workers in the U.S. reached a 12-month average of 16.3 million - up by 18,000 workers, a number which is statistically even with 2000. The total number does, however, represent an increase of 180,000 over the past five years.

Last year, unions represented 13.5 percent of the U.S. labor force, but it's an historically low number. The union membership rate has fallen from a high of 20.1 percent in 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available, according to the BLS. At 18.4 percent, the nation's construction industry enjoyed one of the highest unionization rates.

"Despite a year of record layoffs and historic national upheaval, unions held their own in terms of membership in 2001," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

Unions organized 400,000 new workers last year, keeping the percentage steady. Half of the 16.3 million union members in the U.S. lived in six states - California, New York, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

With 20.8 percent of its workforce union, Michigan ranked fourth in the nation in 2001, behind New York, Hawaii and Alaska, although that number for our state dropped a full percentage point from 2000.

"Unions can still do much more to help workers improve their lives by forming unions at work, but the numbers show steady dedication and perseverance is laying the groundwork for later change," Sweeney said.

BLS noted 9 percent of all private sector workers are unionized, compared to 37.4 percent of public sector workers.

In 2001, full-time wage and salary union members had median usual weekly earnings of $718, compared with a median of $575 for wage and salary workers who were not represented by unions.