What is an economic analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted Expert
Erik Johnson Ph.D.

An economic analyst may work for governmental agencies, investment firms, and other business organizations. Their job is to analyze economic data like demand and supply, the GDP, to help employers make quality decisions.

Economic analysts make forecasts based on data from multiple sources, conduct research, and run simulations. From there, they develop models and scenarios, adjust for their probability of occurrence and success, and make recommendations.

As an economic analyst, you may also be responsible for providing data to drive sales and marketing efforts in your organization. You'll require skills like analytical thinking, problem-solving, programming, and an acute understanding of statistical software.

You'll also require a bachelor's degree in economics, finance, statistics, and related fields. Employers favor advanced degrees and prior work experience when hiring to fill this role.

What general advice would you give to an Economic Analyst?

E

Erik Johnson Ph.D.Erik Johnson Ph.D. LinkedIn Profile

Assistant Professor of Economics, Carthage College

Economics gives you a set of tools to analyze a variety of policy and business problems. However, determining which tools to apply in which situation requires that you learn the industry, you are working from top to bottom. When you begin a new job in a new field, be sure to do everything you can to understand how the organization and the industry work to understand the primary incentives that everyone faces. One right way to do this is to make as many connections within the company you are working for as possible and always be on the lookout for new opportunities within the company and how they can help you learn more. Moreover, do your best to ensure that a significant portion of your job involves some creative endeavors such as economic modeling or building tools for yourself or others to use. As computing power continues to become cheaper, and artificial intelligence becomes more advanced, relatively repetitive tasks become more comfortable and easier to automate. Therefore you will have less job security. Creative tasks such as modeling and tool building are difficult to automate and are more likely to provide you with more satisfaction.
ScoreEconomic AnalystUS Average
Salary
5.7

Avg. Salary $72,501

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level
5.8

Growth Rate 9%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity
5.5
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.10%

Asian 14.09%

Black or African American 5.64%

Hispanic or Latino 7.67%

Unknown 4.50%

White 68.00%

Gender

female 34.06%

male 65.94%

Age - 38
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38
Stress Level
5.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level
8.4

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance
4.3

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Economic Analyst career paths

Key steps to become an economic analyst

  1. Explore economic analyst education requirements

    Most common economic analyst degrees

    Bachelor's

    71.2 %

    Master's

    23.4 %

    Doctorate

    2.1 %
  2. Start to develop specific economic analyst skills

    Skills
    ascdesc
    Percentages
    ascdesc
    SQL15.63%
    SAS13.31%
    Data Analysis8.36%
    Financial Analysis5.11%
    PowerPoint4.58%
  3. Complete relevant economic analyst training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New economic analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an economic analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real economic analyst resumes.
  4. Research economic analyst duties and responsibilities

    • Learned VBA and create a macro to automate the production process.
    • Manage project team meetings using SharePoint calendars.
    • Code and implement SQL and/or SAS code to obtain data for reporting and analysis.
    • Simulate generator outages and competitive market supply curves via SAS, MATLAB and STATA.
  5. Prepare your economic analyst resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your economic analyst resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an economic analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose From 10+ Customizable Economic Analyst Resume templates

    Build a professional Economic Analyst resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Economic Analyst resume.
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  6. Apply for economic analyst jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for an economic analyst job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How Did You Land Your First Economic Analyst Job

Zippi

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Average economic analyst salary

The average Economic Analyst salary in the United States is $72,501 per year or $35 per hour. Economic analyst salaries range between $49,000 and $107,000 per year.

Average Economic Analyst Salary
$72,501 Yearly
$34.86 hourly

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How do economic analysts rate their job?

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Economic Analyst reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2020
Cons

Fundamental Economics


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019
Cons

Sitting for long periods of time.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2019
Cons

Lots of sitting.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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