What does a Economist
actually do all day?
top skill Writingcore tasks 6median pay $124,720AI exposure 24/100
Economists is moderately paced, desk-bound, some people contact work.
What this job actually does all day
The representative tasks O*NET analysts recorded for this role — not a glossy job ad, the real work.
- Study economic and statistical data in area of specialization, such as finance, labor, or agriculture.
- Compile, analyze, and report data to explain economic phenomena and forecast market trends, applying mathematical models and statistical techniques.
- Study the socioeconomic impacts of new public policies, such as proposed legislation, taxes, services, and regulations.
- Explain economic impact of policies to the public.
- Review documents written by others.
- Provide advice and consultation on economic relationships to businesses, public and private agencies, and other employers.
Skills & environment
Bars are O*NET importance/intensity ratings, scaled 0–100 so you can compare at a glance.
The skills it demands most
What the environment feels like
Deadline pressure: moderateConflict & friction: rarely deals with conflictNeed to be exact: precision is criticalTime spent sitting: mostly sitting at a deskContact with people: moderate
Go deeper on this role
How this is built. Tasks, skills, and work-environment ratings come from the
U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET occupational analysis — job analysts survey real workers, so this is the
closest thing to "what the job is actually like" in public data. Skill scores are O*NET Importance
ratings (0–5) and environment measures are Context ratings (0–5), both rescaled to 0–100 here for
easy reading. This task-and-skill detail comes straight from the O*NET database — it's
pulled straight from the survey, not invented. Figures describe the typical role, not any one person's job.