What Types of Jobs are Available for an Economist?

There are many types of jobs are available for an economist, according to Econ-Jobs. For instance, some economists are actually financial analysts who apply economic and statistical analyses to measure the effectiveness of activities and identify opportunities to improve critical processes. They may conduct research on matters that inform decisions, protect stakeholders and increase oversight quality. These financial analysts may write white papers and research discussions on economic issues for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Labor or Union Economist

Labor or union economists analyze city, county, state and other budgets, occupations and industries. They may analyze state legislative and federal regulatory initiatives to determine their impact on union policies and budgets. Based on the information they gather and understand, they may make recommendations, develop new resource materials and implement initiatives to achieve goals and plans. Labor or union economists respond to a variety of routine requests. This generally involves searching files, composing formal letters and preparing summaries. They may answer the request by adapting previous responses to similar requests. Labor or union economists may prepare and present testimonies before city councils, county committees, state legislatures and local press meetings. They must have the ability to analyze trends affecting things like the union, workers, public sector, collective bargaining issues and contract campaign strategies.

Transportation Economist

Transportation economists are policy analysts who conduct statistical reviews of economic data to inform state decision makers, legislative movements and community discussions. They may deal with policy issues, planning documents and investment decisions. When it comes to technical analysis, they may handle revenue forecasts, cost allocation studies, benefit-cost analysis and fiscal impact statements. They must translate statistical data and relate highly technical information in ways that non-technical audiences can understand and use for political action. Transportation economists may give advice during negotiations, impasse procedures and econometric forecasting. They may conduct workshops, prepares session outlines and disseminate presentation materials. They sometimes prepare and publish exhibits, summaries, articles, manuals and fact sheets. They must have the ability to plan and execute campaigns, work with external affiliates and strengthen management’s understanding of audit impacts and capital markets.

Marketing Research Economist

Market research economists are usually consultants who help corporations improve product lines, expand services and introduce new items to the public. They may focus on job market topics through public and proprietary data related to job hunting, market trends, job search engines and social media sites. Their audiences may be employers, job-seekers, policymakers, researchers and executives. Market research economists work to discover interesting data insights in publicly available data. They conceive, research and write data-driven summaries about the labor, employment and job hunting markets. They may develop and assess new indicators using labor empirical approaches, statistical concepts and market theories. Market research economists must have a solid understanding of computer languages like SQL, Stata and Python.

Related Resource: What is a Business Liaison?

Finally, data scientists apply economic thinking to business design, pricing, forecasting, evaluation, marketing, sales, advertising and other business areas. They create econometric models using data systems, then apply economic theory to solve real-world business problems. These economists should be proficient in data management, causal modeling, experimental designs, structural modeling, prediction estimation and statistics-oriented programming languages.