Northeast region · state data
Rhode Island unemployment rate and jobs
Rhode Island's unemployment rate was 3.6% in Sep 2026, 0.6 percentage points below the U.S. rate of 4.2%. That was down from 4.3% a year earlier.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Local Area Unemployment Statistics and Current Employment Statistics) via FRED®. Monthly data, seasonally adjusted. Latest observation Sep 2026; snapshot taken Oct 27, 2026, 2:15 AM EDT.
Unemployment rate (Sep 2026)
3.6%
U.S. rate, same month
4.2%
Difference from U.S.
-0.6 pt
A year earlier
4.3%
Rank (1 = lowest rate)
20th of 51
Nonfarm jobs (Sep 2026)
513,100
Job growth, 12 months
-0.1%
Record low rate
2.7% (Jul 2023)
Unemployment rate: Rhode Island vs. the U.S.
3.6% Sep 2026 · Percent
Rhode Island unemployment rate U.S. unemployment rate
Percent of the labor force, seasonally adjusted. Rhode Island data from Jan 1976 to Sep 2026; the dashed line is the national rate (UNRATE).
How Rhode Island compares
In Sep 2026, Rhode Island had the 20th lowest rate of the 51 states and DC (tied with Idaho, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia). Across the 9 states in the Northeast region, the simple average was 3.7%, so Rhode Island was 0.1 points below it.
Since the state series began in 1976, Rhode Island's rate has ranged from a low of 2.7% in Jul 2023 to a high of 17.9% in Apr 2020. Just before the pandemic, in February 2020, it was 3.6%, the same as now. Over the last 12 months the rate averaged 4.3% and was above the national rate in 4 of them.
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Jobs in Rhode Island
Employers in Rhode Island reported 513,100 nonfarm payroll jobs in Sep 2026, seasonally adjusted. That is 700 fewer than a year earlier (-0.1%), compared with +0.3% for the nation as a whole. Its 12-month job growth rate ranked 46th of 51. The record high was 517,800 in May 2025. Compared with February 2020, payrolls are up 0.9%.
513.1K Sep 2026 · Thousands of persons
Total nonfarm payroll jobs, thousands, seasonally adjusted, from the BLS survey of employers. Data from Jan 1990.
| Month | Unemployment rate | U.S. rate | Nonfarm jobs | Monthly job change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | 3.6% | 4.2% | 513,100 | -1,600 |
| Aug 2026 | 3.7% | 4.1% | 514,700 | +100 |
| Jul 2026 | 3.9% | 4.1% | 514,600 | +1,400 |
| Jun 2026 | 4.1% | 4.2% | 513,200 | -700 |
| May 2026 | 4.3% | 4.3% | 513,900 | -200 |
| Apr 2026 | 4.5% | 4.3% | 514,100 | -1,100 |
| Mar 2026 | 4.7% | 4.3% | 515,200 | +1,100 |
| Feb 2026 | 4.6% | 4.4% | 514,100 | -600 |
| Jan 2026 | 4.5% | 4.3% | 514,700 | +500 |
| Dec 2025 | 4.4% | 4.4% | 514,200 | +1,000 |
| Nov 2025 | 4.4% | 4.5% | 513,200 | -600 |
| Sep 2025 | 4.3% | 4.4% | 513,800 | -1,000 |
Record high unemployment rate: 17.9% (Apr 2020). Monthly figures are revised each year when BLS benchmarks the state data.
States with similar unemployment rates
Other Northeast states
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This page shows public labor market data for general information. It is not financial or career advice and does not predict future values.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Unemployment Rate in Rhode Island [RIUR], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RIUR, Oct 27, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, All Employees: Total Nonfarm in Rhode Island [RINA], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RINA, Oct 27, 2026.
- View RIUR on FRED® · View RINA on FRED® · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics · BLS State and Metro Area Employment
FRED® is a registered trademark of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Neither the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis nor the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics endorses OpenEcon.
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