Para mis proyectos hice esta solución (RecyclerView con el método setEmptyView):

public class RecyclerViewEmptySupport extends RecyclerView {
    private View emptyView;

    private AdapterDataObserver emptyObserver = new AdapterDataObserver() {


        @Override
        public void onChanged() {
            Adapter<?> adapter =  getAdapter();
            if(adapter != null && emptyView != null) {
                if(adapter.getItemCount() == 0) {
                    emptyView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
                    RecyclerViewEmptySupport.this.setVisibility(View.GONE);
                }
                else {
                    emptyView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
                    RecyclerViewEmptySupport.this.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
                }
            }

        }
    };

    public RecyclerViewEmptySupport(Context context) {
        super(context);
    }

    public RecyclerViewEmptySupport(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
    }

    public RecyclerViewEmptySupport(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    }

    @Override
    public void setAdapter(Adapter adapter) {
        super.setAdapter(adapter);

        if(adapter != null) {
            adapter.registerAdapterDataObserver(emptyObserver);
        }

        emptyObserver.onChanged();
    }

    public void setEmptyView(View emptyView) {
        this.emptyView = emptyView;
    }
}

Y deberías usarlo en lugar de RecyclerView clase:

<com.maff.utils.RecyclerViewEmptySupport android:id="@+id/list1"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    />

<TextView android:id="@+id/list_empty"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="Empty"
    />

Y

RecyclerViewEmptySupport list = 
    (RecyclerViewEmptySupport)rootView.findViewById(R.id.list1);
list.setLayoutManager(new LinearLayoutManager(context));
list.setEmptyView(rootView.findViewById(R.id.list_empty));

Aquí hay una solución que utiliza solo un adaptador personalizado con un tipo de vista diferente para la situación vacía.

public class EventAdapter extends 
    RecyclerView.Adapter<EventAdapter.ViewHolder> {

    private static final int VIEW_TYPE_EVENT = 0;
    private static final int VIEW_TYPE_DATE = 1;
    private static final int VIEW_TYPE_EMPTY = 2;

    private ArrayList items;

    public EventAdapter(ArrayList items) {
        this.items = items;
    }

    @Override
    public int getItemCount() {
        if(items.size() == 0){
            return 1;
        }else {
            return items.size();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public int getItemViewType(int position) {
        if (items.size() == 0) {
            return VIEW_TYPE_EMPTY;
        }else{
            Object item = items.get(position);
            if (item instanceof Event) {
                return VIEW_TYPE_EVENT;
            } else {
                return VIEW_TYPE_DATE;
            }
        }
    }

    @Override
    public ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int viewType) {
        View v;
        ViewHolder vh;
        if (viewType == VIEW_TYPE_EVENT) {
            v = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(
                R.layout.item_event, parent, false);
            vh = new ViewHolderEvent(v);
        } else if (viewType == VIEW_TYPE_DATE) {
            v = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(
                R.layout.item_event_date, parent, false);
            vh = new ViewHolderDate(v);
        } else {
            v = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(
                R.layout.item_event_empty, parent, false);
            vh = new ViewHolder(v);
        }

        return vh;
    }

    @Override
    public void onBindViewHolder(EventAdapter.ViewHolder viewHolder, 
                                 final int position) {
        int viewType = getItemViewType(position);
        if (viewType == VIEW_TYPE_EVENT) {
            //...
        } else if (viewType == VIEW_TYPE_DATE) {
            //...
        } else if (viewType == VIEW_TYPE_EMPTY) {
            //...
        }
    }

    public static class ViewHolder extends ParentViewHolder {
        public ViewHolder(View v) {
            super(v);
        }
    }

    public static class ViewHolderDate extends ViewHolder {

        public ViewHolderDate(View v) {
            super(v);
        }
    }

    public static class ViewHolderEvent extends ViewHolder {

        public ViewHolderEvent(View v) {
            super(v);
        }
    }

}

Uso ViewSwitcher

<ViewSwitcher
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:id="@+id/switcher"
    >

    <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
        android:id="@+id/list"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        />

    <TextView android:id="@+id/text_empty"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:text="@string/list_empty"
        android:gravity="center"
        />

</ViewSwitcher>

En el código, comprobará el cursor/conjunto de datos y cambiará las vistas.

void showItems(Cursor items) {
    if (items.size() > 0) {

        mAdapter.switchCursor(items);

        if (R.id.list == mListSwitcher.getNextView().getId()) {
            mListSwitcher.showNext();
        }
    } else if (R.id.text_empty == mListSwitcher.getNextView().getId()) {
        mListSwitcher.showNext();
    }
}

También puede configurar animaciones si lo desea con un par de líneas de código

mListSwitcher.setInAnimation(slide_in_left);
mListSwitcher.setOutAnimation(slide_out_right);

En su adaptador getItemViewType compruebe si el adaptador tiene 0 elementos y devuelva un tipo de vista diferente si es así.

Luego en su onCreateViewHolder compruebe si el viewType es el que devolvió anteriormente e infle una vista diferente. En este caso un archivo de diseño con ese TextView

EDITAR

Si esto todavía no funciona, es posible que desee establecer el tamaño de la vista programáticamente de la siguiente manera:

Point size = new Point();
((WindowManager)itemView.getContext().getSystemService(Context.WINDOW_SERVICE)).getDefaultDisplay().getSize(size);

Y luego cuando se infla su llamada de vista:

inflatedView.getLayoutParams().height = size.y;
inflatedView.getLayoutParams().width = size.x;

RVEmptyObserver

En lugar de usar un RecyclerView personalizado, extender un AdapterDataObserver es una solución más simple que permite establecer un View personalizado que se muestra cuando no hay elementos en la lista:

Ejemplo De Uso:

RVEmptyObserver observer = new RVEmptyObserver(recyclerView, emptyView)
rvAdapter.registerAdapterDataObserver(observer);

Clase:

public class RVEmptyObserver extends RecyclerView.AdapterDataObserver {
    private View emptyView;
    private RecyclerView recyclerView;

    public RVEmptyObserver(RecyclerView rv, View ev) {
        this.recyclerView = rv;
        this.emptyView    = ev;
        checkIfEmpty();
    }

    private void checkIfEmpty() {
        if (emptyView != null && recyclerView.getAdapter() != null) {
            boolean emptyViewVisible = recyclerView.getAdapter().getItemCount() == 0;
            emptyView.setVisibility(emptyViewVisible ? View.VISIBLE : View.GONE);
            recyclerView.setVisibility(emptyViewVisible ? View.GONE : View.VISIBLE);
        }
    }

    public void onChanged() { checkIfEmpty(); }
    public void onItemRangeInserted(int positionStart, int itemCount) { checkIfEmpty(); }
    public void onItemRangeRemoved(int positionStart, int itemCount) { checkIfEmpty(); }
}

Dado que la respuesta de Kevin no está completa.
Esta es la respuesta más correcta si utiliza RecyclerAdapter's notifyItemInserted y notifyItemRemoved para actualizar el conjunto de datos.
Simplemente agregue los códigos a continuación.

mAdapter.registerAdapterDataObserver(new RecyclerView.AdapterDataObserver() {

    @Override
    public void onChanged() {
        super.onChanged();
        checkEmpty();
    }

    @Override
    public void onItemRangeInserted(int positionStart, int itemCount) {
        super.onItemRangeInserted(positionStart, itemCount);
        checkEmpty();
    }

    @Override
    public void onItemRangeRemoved(int positionStart, int itemCount) {
        super.onItemRangeRemoved(positionStart, itemCount);
        checkEmpty();
    }

    void checkEmpty() {
        mEmptyView.setVisibility(mAdapter.getItemCount() == 0 ? View.VISIBLE : View.GONE);
    }
});

Aquí está mi clase para mostrar vista vacía, reintentar vista (cuando la api de carga falló) y el progreso de carga para RecyclerView

public class RecyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup extends RelativeLayout {
    private RecyclerView mRecyclerView;
    private LinearLayout mEmptyView;
    private LinearLayout mRetryView;
    private ProgressBar mProgressBar;
    private OnRetryClick mOnRetryClick;

    public RecyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup(Context context) {
        this(context, null);
    }

    public RecyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        this(context, attrs, 0);
    }

    public RecyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyleAttr) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyleAttr);
    }

    @Override
    public void onViewAdded(View child) {
        super.onViewAdded(child);
        if (child.getId() == R.id.recyclerView) {
            mRecyclerView = (RecyclerView) findViewById(R.id.recyclerView);
            return;
        }
        if (child.getId() == R.id.layout_empty) {
            mEmptyView = (LinearLayout) findViewById(R.id.layout_empty);
            return;
        }
        if (child.getId() == R.id.layout_retry) {
            mRetryView = (LinearLayout) findViewById(R.id.layout_retry);
            mRetryView.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
                @Override
                public void onClick(View v) {
                    mRetryView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
                    mOnRetryClick.onRetry();
                }
            });
            return;
        }
        if (child.getId() == R.id.progress_bar) {
            mProgressBar = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.progress_bar);
        }
    }

    public void loading() {
        mRetryView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        mEmptyView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        mProgressBar.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
    }

    public void empty() {
        mEmptyView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        mRetryView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        mProgressBar.setVisibility(View.GONE);
    }

    public void retry() {
        mRetryView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        mEmptyView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        mProgressBar.setVisibility(View.GONE);
    }

    public void success() {
        mRetryView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        mEmptyView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        mProgressBar.setVisibility(View.GONE);
    }

    public RecyclerView getRecyclerView() {
        return mRecyclerView;
    }

    public void setOnRetryClick(OnRetryClick onRetryClick) {
        mOnRetryClick = onRetryClick;
    }

    public interface OnRetryClick {
        void onRetry();
    }
}

Activity_xml

<...RecyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup
        android:id="@+id/recyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup">

        <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
            android:id="@+id/recyclerView"/>

        <LinearLayout
            android:id="@+id/layout_empty">
            ...
        </LinearLayout>

        <LinearLayout
            android:id="@+id/layout_retry">
            ...
        </LinearLayout>

        <ProgressBar
            android:id="@+id/progress_bar"/>

</...RecyclerViewEmptyRetryGroup>

La fuente está aquí https://github.com/PhanVanLinh/AndroidRecyclerViewWithLoadingEmptyAndRetry

He añadido RecyclerView y alternativa ImageView a la RelativeLayout:

<RelativeLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">

    <ImageView
        android:id="@+id/no_active_jobs"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:src="@mipmap/ic_active_jobs" />

    <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:id="@+id/recyclerView"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent" />

</RelativeLayout>

Y luego en Adapter:

@Override
public int getItemCount() {
    if (mOrders.size() == 0) {
        mRecyclerView.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
    } else {
        mRecyclerView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
    }
    return mOrders.size();
}

Solo en caso de que esté trabajando con un FirebaseRecyclerAdapter este post funciona como un encanto https://stackoverflow.com/a/39058636/6507009

Pruebe el listView, addFooterView después de añadir el adaptador a la listview

listview.setAdapter(adapter);
listview.addFooterView(emptyView);