Federal agency offers Labor Day snapshot

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, an arm of the US Department of Labor, highlighted some data this week to put the upcoming Labor Day holiday into some perspective.

"In 2007, union membership rates were lower than the highs of the early 1980s," the bureau said in a news release. "Twelve percent of wage and salary workers nationwide were union members, a steady decline from a high of 20.1 percent in 1983. Among the New England States, New Hampshire (9.7 percent), Vermont (10.4 percent), and Maine (11.7 percent), all fell below the national average, while Connecticut (15.6 percent), Rhode Island (15.0 percent), and Massachusetts (13.2 percent) were all above average."

The photo at right shows then-President Bill Clinton delivering a 1994 Labor Day speech at the Bath Iron Works in Maine.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)