Membership in America’s building trades unions increased by almost 100,000 members in 2007, reflecting the first overall increase in membership in close to a decade, reported the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of private sector industries with high unionization rates, construction was third with 13.9 percent, about 1.19 million workers. In 2006, the construction industry had a 13 percent unionization rate (1.09 million workers).