Economists
Conduct research, prepare reports, or formulate plans to address economic problems related to the production and distribution of goods and services or monetary and fiscal policy. May collect and process economic and statistical data using sampling techniques and econometric methods.
17,790 people do this job in the US. $124,720 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 94%
- 6%
- 0%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 3%. Today's estimate: 6%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 14 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study economic and statistical data in area of specialization, such as finance, labor, or agriculture.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 13% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | 23%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Compile, analyze, and report data to explain economic phenomena and forecast market trends, applying mathematical models and statistical techniques.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 13% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 2%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Develop economic guidelines and standards, and prepare points of view used in forecasting trends and formulating economic policy.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 13% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 2.5 work weeks | 0%Half by Jan 2029 | |
| Provide litigation support, such as writing reports for expert testimony or testifying as an expert witness.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 13% | 1.7 work weeks1.7 work days to 1.3 work months | 0%Half by Aug 2029 | |
| Conduct research on economic issues, and disseminate research findings through technical reports or scientific articles in journals.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 13% | 3.5 work weeks4.2 work days to 2.4 work months | 0%Half by Jan 2030 | |
| Formulate recommendations, policies, or plans to solve economic problems or to interpret markets.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 10% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 2%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Study the socioeconomic impacts of new public policies, such as proposed legislation, taxes, services, and regulations.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 10% | 2.5 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 0%Half by Jun 2028 | |
| Provide advice and consultation on economic relationships to businesses, public and private agencies, and other employers.Done more than yearly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.7 work days | 21%Half by May 2027 | |
| Forecast production and consumption of renewable resources and supply, consumption, and depletion of non-renewable resources.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | 0%Half by Apr 2029 | |
| Teach theories, principles, and methods of economics.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Supervise research projects and students' study projects.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 2% | 2.5 h50 min to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Review documents written by others.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 1.3 h25 min to 4.2 h | 69%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).