New England’s average unemployment rate remained unchanged in September from August, sitting at 4.6, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The region’s unemployment rate is down from 5.7 percent last September.

The New England unemployment rate was lower than the national rate of 5.1 percent for September 2015.

Three New England states posted jobless rates that were significantly lower than the U.S. rate of 5.1 percent – New Hampshire (3.4 percent), Vermont (3.7 percent) and Maine (4.4 percent).

Over the last year, all six New England states recorded statistically significant unemployment rate decreases with declines ranging from 1.8 percent in Rhode Island to 0.5 percent in Vermont. During that time, Rhode Island had the largest jobless rate decline nationwide.

Among the nine geographic divisions, the East South Central and Pacific had the highest jobless rates in September, with 5.7 percent each. The West North Central division had the lowest unemployment rate at 4 percent. All divisions except the western Mountain division had statistically significant rate declines from a year earlier. The largest of these decreases occurred in the East North Central and Pacific divisions (-1.3 percent each).