For decades, a doctorate in economics was a golden ticket. It promised a path to tenure, or at worst, a lucrative role at a central bank, think tank, or tech firm.
Not anymore.
The economics job market is in freefall, and the profession’s own data proves it.
Unlike most fields, economics has a bizarrely centralized hiring ritual. Once a year, in the fall, every employer posts openings at the same time. Every candidate applies at the same time. The entire profession runs through one clearinghouse: the American Economic Association’s “Job Openings for Economists” (JOE). This makes economics PhD market uniquely measurable, and the numbers are brutal.
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Job postings for PhD economists are down 30 percent in just three years
The JOE data shows few jobs in 2022, fewer still in 2023, and fewer still in 2024.
This year’s trajectory suggests 2025 will be even worse:
Extrapolating, the 2025 market looks set to bottom out around 1,000 openings:
I think my freehand projection is a very conservative approximation of reality—actual numbers may come in slightly higher or lower, of course, but this reasonably looks like what the market is on track for, barring a miracle.
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