| Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment: | |||||||
| Wholesale and Retail Trade Workers | |||||||
| Year | Sample Size | Wage | At Cap | Union Wage | Nonunion Wage | Unadjusted Union Wage Prem. | Adjusted Union Wage Prem. |
| 1973 | 7,828 | $3.14 | 0.1% | $3.77 | $3.06 | 23.3% | 20.5% |
| 1974 | 7,432 | $3.39 | 0.1% | $4.20 | $3.28 | 27.9% | 21.5% |
| 1975 | 7,657 | $3.61 | 0.1% | $4.55 | $3.50 | 30.0% | 23.8% |
| 1976 | 7,688 | $3.93 | 0.2% | $4.94 | $3.81 | 29.8% | 25.3% |
| 1977 | 9,621 | $4.16 | 0.2% | $5.40 | $4.00 | 34.9% | 32.5% |
| 1978 | 9,136 | $4.43 | 0.3% | $5.73 | $4.30 | 33.4% | 31.8% |
| 1979 | 8,651 | $5.16 | 0.3% | $6.30 | $5.09 | 23.9% | 20.5% |
| 1980 | 10,825 | $5.54 | 0.5% | $6.72 | $5.43 | 23.7% | 22.0% |
| 1981 | 2,547 | $5.40 | 0.3% | $7.32 | $5.48 | 33.7% | 28.1% |
| 1983 | 31,281 | $6.04 | 1.0% | $8.08 | $6.09 | 32.7% | 33.3% |
| 1984 | 31,655 | $6.12 | 1.2% | $8.07 | $6.21 | 30.0% | 33.7% |
| 1985 | 32,360 | $6.36 | 1.3% | $8.30 | $6.46 | 28.4% | 30.9% |
| 1986 | 33,129 | $6.58 | 1.6% | $8.33 | $6.67 | 24.9% | 27.7% |
| 1987 | 32,587 | $6.84 | 1.8% | $8.77 | $7.00 | 25.3% | 25.6% |
| 1988 | 30,774 | $7.05 | 2.0% | $9.12 | $7.22 | 26.3% | 21.8% |
| 1989 | 31,302 | $7.52 | 0.3% | $9.37 | $7.52 | 24.5% | 23.2% |
| 1990 | 32,596 | $7.94 | 0.4% | $9.55 | $7.95 | 20.2% | 20.9% |
| 1991 | 31,612 | $8.21 | 0.4% | $9.71 | $8.29 | 17.2% | 19.9% |
| 1992 | 31,457 | $8.40 | 0.4% | $9.99 | $8.47 | 18.0% | 19.7% |
| 1993 | 30,621 | $8.64 | 0.5% | $10.49 | $8.71 | 20.3% | 21.3% |
| 1994 | 34,796 | $9.27 | 0.7% | $10.63 | $9.18 | 15.8% | 19.9% |
| 1995 | 35,069 | $9.56 | 0.7% | $10.98 | $9.47 | 16.0% | 20.0% |
| 1996 | 24,853 | $9.44 | 0.6% | $10.93 | $9.78 | 11.7% | 16.4% |
| 1997 | 24,829 | $9.88 | 0.8% | $11.18 | $10.15 | 10.2% | 15.2% |
| 1998 | 24,965 | $10.34 | 0.3% | $11.91 | $10.69 | 11.4% | 14.3% |
| 1999 | 23,893 | $10.97 | 0.4% | $12.21 | $11.36 | 7.4% | 13.2% |
| 2000 | 23,334 | $11.46 | 0.4% | $12.75 | $11.95 | 6.7% | 14.6% |
| 2001 | 24,241 | $12.10 | 0.6% | $13.37 | $12.56 | 6.5% | 11.3% |
| 2002 | 26,399 | $12.52 | 0.6% | $13.85 | $12.96 | 6.9% | 12.8% |
| 2003 | 18,414 | $13.97 | 0.7% | $14.15 | $14.56 | -2.8% | 12.7% |
| 2004 | 18,378 | $14.43 | 0.8% | $14.45 | $15.00 | -3.6% | 15.4% |
| 2005 | 18,562 | $15.01 | 1.1% | $15.37 | $15.49 | -0.8% | 11.8% |
| 2006 | 18,299 | $15.14 | 1.0% | $15.31 | $15.76 | -2.9% | 12.5% |
| 2007 | 17,887 | $15.68 | 1.3% | $16.45 | $16.33 | 0.7% | 10.9% |
| 2008 | 17,510 | $16.15 | 1.3% | $16.12 | $16.79 | -4.0% | 8.9% |
| 2009 | 16,979 | $16.19 | 1.3% | $15.97 | $16.93 | -5.7% | 9.1% |
| 2010 | 16,184 | $16.04 | 1.1% | $16.43 | $16.79 | -2.2% | 11.7% |
| 2011 | 15,479 | $16.43 | 1.4% | $15.73 | $17.13 | -8.1% | 6.1% |
| 2012 | 15,680 | $17.03 | 1.6% | $16.60 | $17.96 | -7.6% | 6.4% |
| 2013 | 14,987 | $17.02 | 1.7% | $17.86 | $17.98 | -0.7% | 5.5% |
| 2014 | 14,675 | $17.38 | 1.7% | $16.88 | $18.22 | -7.4% | 5.5% |
| 2015 | 14,257 | $17.87 | 1.8% | $17.78 | $18.79 | -5.4% | 10.8% |
| 2016 | 14,160 | $19.05 | 2.4% | $17.84 | $19.89 | -10.3% | 7.4% |
| 2017 | 13,844 | $19.52 | 2.4% | $19.21 | $20.33 | -5.5% | 6.4% |
| 2018 | 13,210 | $20.44 | 2.6% | $21.12 | $21.16 | -0.2% | 6.4% |
| 2019 | 12,217 | $21.45 | 3.0% | $20.75 | $22.22 | -6.6% | 3.0% |
| 2020 | 11,151 | $22.64 | 3.3% | $20.80 | $23.67 | -12.1% | 3.3% |
| 2021 | 11,078 | $24.16 | 3.9% | $20.71 | $24.95 | -17.0% | -4.2% |
| 2022 | 10,612 | $25.89 | 4.4% | $22.25 | $26.76 | -16.8% | -0.2% |
| 2023 | 10,321 | $27.69 | 3.2% | $25.85 | $28.46 | -9.2% | 4.3% |
| 2024 | 10,610 | $28.14 | 0.6% | $24.07 | $29.00 | -17.0% | -0.4% |
| Beginning in April 2023, the CPS gradually phased in dynamic topcoding that assigned anyone | |||||||
| in the top 3% of the weekly earnings distribution a value that matches the average within the | |||||||
| top 3 percent. The estimate of the percent at the cap excludes those who are assigned a | |||||||
| dynamic top code. By the end of 2024, no earnings are capped at $2885. | |||||||
| Copyright 2025 by Barry T. Hirsch, David A. Macpherson, and William E. Even. | |||||||