Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released 2012 data on unionization in the U.S. (Dick wrote about it here.) In 2012, the total union membership rate in the U.S. was 11.3 percent, the public-sector union membership rate was 35.9 percent, and the private-sector union membership rate was 6.6 percent. Washington’s total union membership rate was 18.5 percent — the fourth highest unionization rate in the country.

Since then, Professors Barry Hirsch (Georgia State University) and David Macpherson (Trinity University) have estimated the rates of public- and private-sector unionization by state. (Their data is available here.)

According to Hirsch and Macpherson, Washington’s public-sector union membership rate was 51.1 percent in 2012 (11th highest) and its private-sector union membership rate was 11.1 percent (5th highest). Union membership declined in Washington (and nationally) over 2011.