Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders job market in West Virginia
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 West Virginia.
Occupation pay
What Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders earn in West Virginia
BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.
Median annual wage
$56,290West Virginia- Middle 50% of published wages
- $44,170 – $57,480
- U.S. median annual wage
- $54,430
- Reference period
- May 2025
The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.
Verified snapshot
Market at a Glance
Key changes in West Virginia’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: 1,391 represented establishments, 98.19% of the published industry mix.
Latest interpretation
What stands out for metal-refining furnace operators and tenders in West Virginia
The clearest signals from the latest validated state industry data available for this page.
West Virginia trails the U.S. on weighted-industry employment
Employment across the industries associated with Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders changed -2.0% year over year in West Virginia, 0.8 percentage points below 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. Trade, transportation, and utilities was strongest at -1.3%.
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
West Virginia 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.
- West Virginia · 2026 Q1-2.0%
- U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark-1.2%
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View every published value
| Quarter | West Virginia | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Q2 | +0.2% | 100% |
| 2024 Q3 | -0.3% | 100% |
| 2024 Q4 | -1.1% | 100% |
| 2025 Q1 | -2.1% | 100% |
| 2025 Q2 | -1.6% | 100% |
| 2025 Q3 | -2.1% | 100% |
| 2025 Q4 | -2.2% | 100% |
| 2026 Q1 | -2.0% | 100% |
How to read this chart
State trend and national reference
The solid line follows West Virginia’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 West Virginia industries are weighted into this view.
| Industry group | Occupation mix | Employment change | Establishments | Avg. weekly industry wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 97.0% | -2.0% | 1,391 | $1,546 |
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | 1.2% | -1.3% | 11,420 | $1,058 |
| Professional and business services | 0.6% | -1.6% | 13,442 | $1,412 |
Which industries are growing?
No weighted industry published growth
In January to March 2026, none of the weighted West Virginia industries published a positive year-over-year employment change. Nothing is substituted in its place.
Current West Virginia context
Current West Virginia Market Signals
Statewide indicators for all occupations in West Virginia. 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 · West Virginia
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 | 137.83 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 138.74 |
| Aug 7, 2026 | 138.65 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 136.07 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 137.03 |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 135.96 |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 134.99 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 133.77 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 133.08 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 133.97 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 134.50 |
| Oct 9, 2026 | 134.53 |
| Oct 16, 2026 | 134.48 |
| Oct 23, 2026 | 134.80 |
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.
Statewide layoff notices
Listed WARN records in West Virginia
Partial listPartial list. Partial listed-record coverage: WorkForce West Virginia's 2026 listings are read with each letter pinned to the reviewed copy and dated by the letter date (received stamps are kept separately). Approximate, contradictory or multi-state worker counts are withheld, and a supplemental notice for recalled workers is linked to its original rather than treated as new people. No month or statewide total is treated as complete; missing records are unknown, not zero.
| Month of notice date | Listed notices |
|---|---|
| Jan 2026 | 1 |
| Feb 2026 | 1 |
| Apr 2026 | 1 |
| May 2026 | 1 |
| Jun 2026 | 2 |
| Jul 2026 | 1 |
| Aug 2026 | 2 |
| Oct 2026 | 1 |
| Listed notices counted | 10 |
Statewide, current-month and three-month totals are unavailable. Months not shown are unknown, not zero. Effective layoff dates are not used as notice dates.
Source last checked . This check does not certify a newly published report.
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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia?
The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the West Virginia industries weighted to Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders changed -2.0% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with -1.2% nationwide.
Are wages for Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders rising in West Virginia?
QCEW does not publish pay for Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +2.6% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.
How complete is this West Virginia 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
- West Virginia
- QCEW release label
- QCEW 2026 Q1
- Data period
- 2026 Q1
- State industry employment, year over year
- -2.0%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
- -2.3%State data coverage 100%
- Average weekly industry wage, year over year
- +2.6%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/west-virginia#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.