The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the nation’s overall union membership rate remained the same in 2013, at 11.3 percent of the labor force, but for the first time in five years, there are more union members in the private sector than in government.

The public sector union membership rate fell to 35.3 percent from 35.9 percent in 2012.  However, private sector membership was 6.7 percent, up from 6.6 percent in 2012. Although public sector union membership continues to far outpace private sector membership, the gap narrowed slightly in 2013, with unions adding about 282,000 new private sector members, while losing approximately 118,000 public sector members.