The drop was driven not by job gains but by Rhode Islanders leaving the workforce altogether. Rhode Island’s labor force participation rate dropped sharply from 63.5% in Q1 to 62.6% in Q2 — the eighth consecutive quarterly decline since peaking at 64.7% in Q2 2024. Over that two-year stretch, Rhode Island’s participation rate has fallen 2.1 percentage points, outpacing declines in New England (1.2 points) and the U.S. (0.9 points). “Until we see sustained growth in both total jobs and workforce participation, the underlying health of the state’s labor market remains under pressure.” Rhode Island’s GDP also grew at an annualized rate of 1.5% in Q1 2026, though that trailed New England (2.0%) and the U.S. (2.1%).