How many people are laid off in Rhode Island each month?
Data updated December 4, 2024
About 9 thousand in September 2024. This includes all terminations of employment by an employer — called layoffs and discharges — such as permanent layoffs, temporary layoffs, and terminations because of mergers, downsizing, closings, or employee performance.
Showing data for
9K
people were laid off or discharged in Rhode Island in September 2024
69K
layoffs and discharges in Rhode Island in 2024 so far
Layoffs are a constant in the labor market — from 2001 to 2019, there was an average of 91,000 layoffs and discharges a year in Rhode Island. Increases in layoffs often reflect recessions or other economic disruption. For example, record-setting layoffs and discharges occurred in March and April of 2020 because of COVID-19. So far in 2024, layoffs and discharges total 69,000 in Rhode Island, which is 30.2% higher than the the same period in 2023.
In Rhode Island, layoffs were 30.2% higher by September 2024 than by September 2023.
Cumulative monthly layoffs and discharges in Rhode Island, seasonally adjusted
Another way to consider this data is to look at the layoff and discharge rate. This puts layoffs and discharges in the context of the total number of people working by showing layoffs and discharges as a percent of employed people who were laid off during the given time period. This rate allows for better comparisons across time, industries, and places by adjusting for differences in the size of the working population.
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Rhode Island’s layoff rate increased between August and September 2024
Seasonally adjusted US and Rhode Island monthly layoff and discharge rates, Dec. 2000–Sep. 2024
In September 2024, 1.8% of people employed in Rhode Island were laid off or discharged, a higher rate than August. Compared to the national numbers, the September 2024 rate in Rhode Island was higher, meaning a higher share of the Rhode Island working population was laid off or dismissed in September 2024 compared to the US overall.
Average layoff and discharge rates are also useful to consider because they smooth out short-term fluctuations and clarify long-term trends.
In September 2024, Rhode Island’s 12-month average layoff rate was higher than the US average.
12-month rolling average layoff and discharge rates in the US and Rhode Island, Nov. 2001–Sep. 2024
During the first 20 years of data, the 12-month average layoff and discharge rate in the US peaked at the end of the Great Recession in June 2009 at 1.8% and during the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020 at 2.4%. Rhode Island’s 12-month average layoff rate was 0.2 percentage points higher than the US rate in June 2009 and 0.8 percentage points higher in May 2020.
As of September 2024, Rhode Island’s 12-month average layoff rate was higher than the US overall. At 1.5%, Rhode Island’s average layoff and discharge rate increased 0.3 percentage points compared to one year prior (October 2022–September 2023 average). The rate increased 0.4 percentage points compared to two years prior (October 2021–September 2022 average).
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Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.
Page sources
USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
