RI Unemployment Rate Rises More Than Any Other State As National Rate Remains Low: Feds

RHODE ISLAND — The unemployment rate ticked down in Rhode Island last month compared to February 2023, following a national trend, as the nation’s unemployment rate increased year over year.

The jobless rate increased from a year earlier in 28 states, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. Three states saw their unemployment decrease, while 19 states and the District of Columbia saw little change. Rhode Island actually saw the largest rise in unemployment among U.S. states year over year.

The news comes as the U.S. saw its overall unemployment rate increase by 0.2 percentage points to 3.9 percent. That was 0.3 points higher than in February 2023, the labor statistics agency said.

Rhode Island Unemployment Snapshot

• Unemployment rate February 2024: 3.9 percent
• 12-month change: 1.1 percentage points

National Trends

North Dakota had the lowest jobless rate in February at 2 percent, followed by South Dakota, at 2.1 percent.

On the flip side, California had the highest unemployment rate in February — with more than double that of the Dakotas — at 5.3 percent, followed by Nevada at 5.2 percent.

In total, 22 states had unemployment rates in February that were lower than the U.S. figure of 3.9 percent, and six states plus the District of Columbia had higher rates. Twenty-two were not “appreciably different” from that of the nation, the federal agency said.

Of the 28 states that saw year-over-year unemployment rate increases, Rhode Island saw the largest at 1.1 percentage points. Of the three states that saw year-over-year decreases, the largest came in Massachusetts, which saw its jobless rate fall 0.7 percentage points.

States That Saw Largest Rise In Unemployment (Year Over Year)

1. Rhode Island (+1.1 percentage points)
2. Maine, Connecticut (+1.0 percentage points)
3. Montana (+0.9 percentage points)
4. Alaska, California, New Jersey, West Virginia (+0.8 percentage points)

States That Saw Largest Fall In Unemployment (Year Over Year)

1. Massachusetts (-0.7 percentage points)
2. Wyoming, Oregon (-0.3 percentage points)

Four states — Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Texas — also saw significant changes from January to February. Iowa saw a 0.7 percentage point increase month-over-month in unemployment, the largest of the four. Illinois and Texas each saw 0.4 percentage point increases, and Michigan saw a 0.3 point increase.

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