Data show Indiana union membership fell 12.5 percent in 2017

MUNSTER, Ind. (AP) - A federal agency says Indiana's union membership fell 12.5 percent last year to its lowest level since 2013.

Newly released data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the state had 266,000 dues-paying union members last year. That's a 12.5 percent drop from the 304,000 union members Indiana had in 2016.

Union workers comprised 8.9 percent of Indiana's workforce in 2017, down from 10.4 percent in 2016.

The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports that's the lowest percentage of unionized workers in Indiana since at least 2006, and may be the lowest in the state since unionization began declining nationally following its peak during the 1950s.

The data also show that unionized workers had median earnings of $1,041 a week last year, compared with $829 a week for nonunion workers.

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Information from: The Times, http://www.nwitimes.com