The fastest growing states in the U.S. also tend to be ones with lower-than-average rates of union membership, according to an analysis of data released on Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Of the states (including the District of Columbia) with the top 10 fastest-growing populations, nine have union membership rates in the single digits. Nevada is the only state to be top 10 in population growth from July 2013 to July 2014 with a unionization rate above the nationwide rate of 11.1 percent.
Nine of the eleven least unionized states had Republican governors in 2014.
North Carolina is the least unionized state in the country, with less than one in 50 employees holding union memberships. Unionization in North Carolina is down 1.1 percentage points from 2013, when it was also the least unionized state.
In contrast, nearly one-quarter of the employed in New York have union memberships, the most unionized state. Unionization in New York rose to 24.6 percent from 24.4 percent in 2013, when it was also the most unionized state. Aside from New York, only Alaska (22.8 percent) and Hawaii (21.8 percent) have more than one-fifth of employees unionized. Alaska is the only state economy that shrank in 2013.
Seven of the 10 least unionized states ranked in the top half of economic growth in 2013. North Dakota, the state with the fastest-growing economy, has just 5 percent of its population unionized, tied for 10th least.
The least-unionized regions of the country are the South and the Plains, with heavy unionization on the West Coast and in the Northeast.
Data released from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday showed unionization nationwide fell from 11.3 percent in 2013 to 11.1 percent in 2014.
