Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders job market in Rhode Island
Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.
The headline
Industry employment fell while average weekly industry wages rose
A data-driven view of the industries that employ Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders in Rhode Island.
Verified snapshot
Market at a Glance
Key changes in Rhode Island’s weighted industry mix.
Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Published coverage: 1,335 represented establishments, 98.19% of the published industry mix.
Latest interpretation
What stands out for metal-refining furnace operators and tenders in Rhode Island
The clearest signals from the latest validated state industry data available for this page.
Rhode Island leads the U.S. on weighted-industry employment
Employment across the industries associated with Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders changed -0.5% year over year in Rhode Island, 0.8 percentage points above the national change of -1.2%. This is weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment.
BLS QCEW weighted industry contextNone of the leading weighted industries is growing
None of the 3 leading weighted industry groups with published values reported positive employment growth. Manufacturing was strongest at -0.4%.
BLS QCEW weighted industry contextIndustry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score.
Employment trends
Rhode Island industry employment over time
Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.
- Rhode Island · 2026 Q1-0.5%
- U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark-1.2%
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View every published value
| Quarter | Rhode Island | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Q2 | -0.9% | 100% |
| 2024 Q3 | -1.1% | 100% |
| 2024 Q4 | -2.0% | 100% |
| 2025 Q1 | -1.7% | 100% |
| 2025 Q2 | -1.9% | 100% |
| 2025 Q3 | -1.5% | 100% |
| 2025 Q4 | -0.7% | 100% |
| 2026 Q1 | -0.5% | 100% |
How to read this chart
State trend and national reference
The solid line follows Rhode Island’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.
- Published quarters
- 8
- Earliest quarter
- 2024 Q2
- Latest quarter
- 2026 Q1
- U.S. benchmark
- -1.2%
Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.
Industry context
Where Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders Work
The occupation mix determines which Rhode Island industries are weighted into this view.
| Industry group | Occupation mix | Employment change | Establishments | Avg. weekly industry wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 97.0% | -0.4% | 1,335 | $1,543 |
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | 1.2% | -0.6% | 8,291 | $1,185 |
| Professional and business services | 0.6% | -1.0% | 13,520 | $2,159 |
Which industries are growing?
No weighted industry published growth
In January to March 2026, none of the weighted Rhode Island industries published a positive year-over-year employment change. Nothing is substituted in its place.
Current Rhode Island context
Current Rhode Island Market Signals
Statewide indicators for all occupations in Rhode Island. They are not Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.
Statewide job postings
Indeed job postings · Rhode Island
Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score
Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View values: Indeed postings index
| Observation date | Index (Feb 2020 = 100) |
|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | 106.38 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 106.30 |
| Aug 7, 2026 | 108.66 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 107.78 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 107.55 |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 109.70 |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 108.87 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 108.85 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 110.60 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 110.29 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 110.23 |
| Oct 9, 2026 | 111.08 |
| Oct 16, 2026 | 110.40 |
| Oct 23, 2026 | 110.75 |
This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.
Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.
Career context
Related occupations
Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.
Questions answered by this release
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders in Rhode Island FAQs
Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.
Is employment growing for Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders in Rhode Island?
The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Rhode Island industries weighted to Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders changed -0.5% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with -1.2% nationwide.
Are wages for Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders rising in Rhode Island?
QCEW does not publish pay for Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +6.6% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.
How complete is this Rhode Island industry view?
The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.
Does this page show current Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders openings?
No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.
Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record
Methodology & Sources
Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.
- Occupation
- Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders
- SOC code
- 51-4051
- State
- Rhode Island
- QCEW release label
- QCEW 2026 Q1
- Data period
- 2026 Q1
- State industry employment, year over year
- -0.5%State data coverage 100%
- U.S. benchmark, year over year
- -1.2%
- Difference from U.S. benchmark
- +0.8 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
- Establishments, year over year
- -8.3%State data coverage 100%
- Average weekly industry wage, year over year
- +6.6%State data coverage 100%
- Industry mix vintage
- EP-2025-2035
- BLS publication date
- Aug 28, 2026
- Source verification
- Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
- Canonical record URL
- https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/metal-refining-furnace-operators-and-tenders/rhode-island#evidence-record
- Derived by
- JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix
MethodologyBLS QCEWHow to citeQCEW state context release, 2026 Q1
Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.