Also called: Federal Economist, Policy Economist
Studies data on jobs, prices, and trade to advise the government on economic policy.
Economists at agencies like the Federal Reserve, Treasury, or BLS crunch huge datasets, build forecasting models, and write reports that guide decisions on interest rates or taxes. A Fed economist might brief officials before a rate decision that moves markets worldwide.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Doctorate (PhD), about 9 years after high school. Master's for many government roles; a PhD for research and Federal Reserve jobs.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Economics, Mathematics, Statistics, Finance.
Growing faster than average (about 5% over 10 years). BLS economists 2024-34 (approx.).
Medium risk for 10 years. AI speeds data cleaning, code and forecast drafts; framing policy questions and defending advice to officials stays human.
Classes: AP Macroeconomics, AP Statistics, AP Calculus.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-3011.
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