Thoughts on the 2025-2026 Economics Job Market

I spend a lot of time thinking about the job market for economists and a lot of time reading job advertisements for the Applied Econ Jobs substack that I started last March. To date, I haven’t really done much synthesis of that work. However, having just reached 1,000 job postings that I have read and curated myself (without web scraping or AI tools), I feel like I may have some useful insights to offer people interested in the current job market. Where possible, I cite data and relevant sources, but some of this is my own perspective or anecdotal, so take it all with a big, ol’ grain of salt, and feel free to comment if you have relevant insights to share (respectfully, please–I realize not everyone will agree with everything I say, but I am a human with feelings).

Demand for employees with Economics degrees

I have been grateful to see the data presented by the AEA Committee on the Job Market. They show that there were 1,773 jobs available on JOE as of December 28, 2025, lower than any other year on the graph (2019-2025). Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham also provided some analysis of posts by field on his blog which are very interesting. For example, as of December, Agricultural and Resource Economics postings on JOE were similar to their 2020 levels, and some other fields, like Business Economics, actually had more postings than in 2020 and other years in the analysis. 

However, we’ve known for a long time that many people getting PhDs in Economics will not be headed into academic employment. JOE offers postings from a variety of employers, but 80% of the jobs posted there last year (according to December 28, 2025 data) were academic. I think this means any exploration of the demand for people with Economics degrees should be much broader. Part of my work on Applied Econ Jobs has been to try to expose people with Economics degrees to the wide range of positions available to them.

Since I choose what to post on my substack, my own posts are a function of the jobs available, which of those jobs I see through my various networks, and my philosophy about posting jobs. To provide context to the statistics I am about to share about these job postings, I will tell you briefly about my philosophy. I focus on jobs in the realm of agricultural/food, environmental/resource/energy, development, and regional economics. Because most of my (~1,700 at time of writing) subscribers live in the US, I focus on the US, but I also post jobs that are elsewhere in the world. I tend to not post jobs elsewhere in the world if they have very uncommon language requirements or will hire nationals of only a particular country (besides the US) because I know those jobs will be relevant to only a small number of subscribers. Although it took me a little time to get into a pattern, I now post 4 jobs every weekday, or 20 per week. I try to have some balance across fields, industries, location, and career level. I also try not to post too many jobs that I think will be on JOE, as I think my job board provides greater value if it can serve as a complement to JOE and other job boards. I source jobs from LinkedIn (primarily through my network not job postings), BlueSky, and Economics listservs, and increasingly people send me posts and ask if I’d be willing to share (which I only do if I think they will be of interest and relevance to subscribers).

Below I provide some statistics about my posts, to offer a different perspective from what you might see on JOE. For ease of comparison with AEA JOE data (which I am sure many of you job market candidates know can be downloaded as a spreadsheet), I use the last complete JOE job market cycle (August 1, 2025-January 31, 2026) for my analysis. I posted 528 jobs on Applied Econ Jobs during this period. The various groupings are based on tags I use for jobs. I tag jobs manually based on my read of the job advertisement.

Applied Econ Jobs Posts (August 1, 2025-January 31, 2026, N = 528) 

	Share	Notes
Sector
Academic	38.45%	32.51% of this 38.45% were postdocs
Government	8.90%	Includes state and federal
Industry	11.74%
NGO	41.48%
Eligible education level
PhD	67.23%
Master’s	64.20%
Location
Outside of the US	29.17%
Inside of the US	74.05%
Visa sponsorship
May offer visa sponsorship	48.48%	Unless otherwise stated, I assume academic jobs and some int’l orgs (e.g., World Bank) will offer visas and other employers will not
Field
Agricultural Economics	34.47%
Food Economics	23.67%
Regional Economics	30.68%	Includes econ. development, labor, urban
Development Economics	33.52%
Environmental Economics	52.27%	Includes environmental, resource, and energy

Note: In all cases, categories do not sum to 100% because jobs can have multiple tags.

Keeping in mind my own individual role in the data generating process for this data set, here are a few observations (with links to example jobs on Applied Econ Jobs):

• There appears to be a robust demand for jobs in the environmental, energy, and resource field across sectors. This is where I am seeing the largest number of opportunities. Here are recent examples in government, academia, NGO, and industry. Among these, don’t forget utilities! Lots of demand forecasting and renewable energy focused work is happening at utilities these days.

• As you may have noticed above, I post many NGO jobs. I feel that many people with Masters and PhDs in Economics underestimate the potential opportunity at NGOs. It may take some work to retool your résumé for some of these jobs, and there will be an additional onus on you to communicate why your knowledge will be useful to them, but there is a lot of potential in jobs that don’t have the title Economist and aren’t specifically seeking someone with an Economics PhD. Some recent examples of postings that may not be obvious to those with advanced Economics degrees but come with decent pay and interesting job descriptions include the Resilience Program Lead at Urban Land Institute and Policy Director at California Competes.

• Among the NGOs I encourage folks to look at are philanthropies. I personally know a few folks from Agricultural Economics programs that have gone this route. Philanthropy tends to pay very well and may give an opportunity to support work happening around the country and world in your area of interest as well as to conduct and oversee impact evaluation, making great use of your skills in Economics. Economists can make the case that our understanding of trade-offs, efficiency, benefit-cost analysis, and impact evaluation make us great employees in that sector. Examples include Program Officer for Economy and Society Initiative at Hewlett Foundation and Senior Research & Policy Associate for CityHealth Initiative at de Beaumont Foundation and Kaiser Permanente.

• Another space I recommend folks not forget about is state government jobs. There are jobs in fields including the social safety net, environment/energy, and economic development.

• I am seeing less in the international development economics space, which makes sense given the tragic gutting of USAID last year. However, I also feel I am not as well hooked into that network, so feel free to let me know if there are some folks I should be connected with to see more of these jobs. Recent examples I have posted include Global Technical Senior Specialist for Nutrition at FEWSNET and Climate and Sustainable Development Sector Economic Advisor at Inter-American Development Bank.

• I am seeing a lot of postdoctoral scholar roles come up and it seems there are many opportunities at this level. These jobs are appearing off cycle as funding comes through and seem less likely to appear on JOE and other association job listings. Recent examples include Postdoctoral Associate in Economics of Soil Health at Cornell University and Postdoctoral Researcher in Development Economics and Global Health at University of Göttingen

• Finally, I am seeing many interdisciplinary opportunities. These include academic positions. Don’t miss them! Recent examples include: Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Administration at Florida International University and Assistant Project Scientist for the Sierra Nevada Research Institute at University of California Merced

Supply of job candidates with Economics degrees

Now that we’ve talked demand, let’s turn to supply. I think supply is a key question right now. To start off, I pulled IPEDs data for graduation rates from the 2023-2024 academic year (the most recent available). In 2023-2024, there were 5,139 Master’s Degrees and 1,434 PhDs (Research/Scholarship) awarded in Economics. This data set includes Economics (CIP code: 45.06), Agricultural Economics (CIP code: 01.0103), and Environmental/Natural Resource Economics (CIP code: 03.0204). 

Assuming that Master’s degrees slots have been relatively stable since then, the past number of Master’s degrees is probably a pretty good predictor for 2026 degrees (as a Master’s tends to have a set timeline). However, based on what I’ve been hearing from PhD students, the number of PhDs awarded in 2026 is likely to be higher. The primary reason for this is funding cuts or funding uncertainty facing PhD students. I have spoken to students who have gone on the market earlier than they otherwise would have due to their tenuous funding situation.

We’ve also seen major cuts recently in government and industry that are affecting both demand and supply. Last year, economists working for a variety of agencies were offered the Deferred Resignation Program or were let go as part of a Reduction in Force. Many others left due to the incredibly challenging working conditions they found themself in. We don’t really have complete numbers on this yet, but here’s a useful rundown from the Brookings Institution on some of these numbers (and the implications of these cuts for the government). In addition to these government jobs, we’ve seen layoffs by government contractors who were affected by government cuts, with particularly large effects in the greater DC region. For example, here are news stories about contractor layoffs in the Research Triangle area of NC and Montgomery County, MD last year. The tech industry, which just a few years ago was a common offramp from academia and attractive landing spot for PhDs less interested in academia, is now letting economists go from their corporate HQ. Here are a few recent news articles about tech cuts in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay area—major corporate tech hubs. 

Finally, we’re seeing academics in US states with more restrictive policies challenging academic freedom and tenure (e.g., Texas and Florida) as well as more restrictive policies on gender and reproductive rights seeking jobs in other states or in other countries. All of these push factors are leading to more mid-career and later-career economists being back out on the job market.

Candidates without US citizenship or Green Card/Permanent Residency

I want to also reflect on the situation facing people who wish to reside in the US and need visa sponsorship to do so, as this impacts their ability to match with certain employers. Increasingly I am seeing job postings that specifically note they cannot (or will not) sponsor visas. This is disappointing, but not entirely surprising. The recent astronomical fee increase by the federal administration means a new H1B visa is now going to cost $100,000. Visa transfers (for example transfer of an F1 student visa to H1B employee visa) appear to be exempt from the fee. This means that people who are currently studying in the US on a valid visa may be able to find work, but people who have received their education outside the US who are seeking a US job are much less likely to be considered. I have less insight on the private sector but expect that industry employers will also be less likely to sponsor visas in our current policy environment (I would welcome any replies from industry folks who could offer insight on this). 

I am hearing very different perspectives on whether to put visa needs on your application. Some academics I’ve talked to have suggested leaving visa information off your application to get your foot in the door and to avoid bias; others feel that you should include visa information so that search committees can tell you quickly if you’re not eligible and avoid lots of extra work or stress on the part of both candidates and search committees. 

I encourage employers to be very clear in the job advertisement about what sort of visa sponsorship you are willing to consider for the sake of candidates and your own workloads. Postings from the last year with the kind of more detailed language I recommend include: Pre-Doctoral Fellow for Cornell Collaborative for International Development Economics Research (CIDER) at Cornell University, Assistant or Associate Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Management at University of Idaho, Complexity Postdoctoral Fellowship at Santa Fe Institute, and Resource Planning Analyst at Salt River Project. However, inevitably I expect some of this process may be endogenous (if say, a search committee tries to make the argument to their university to sponsor a particularly strong candidate). I think job candidates (who I know are under immense pressure already) will need to be patient with search committees who want to hire you but are navigating a challenging regulatory environment.

We also need to be real about the culture of fear that is facing a lot of people in the US who are either not US citizens and/or who are being racially profiled and assumed not to be in the US legally by federal immigration officials. This will lead to heavy competition for the jobs in the places perceived to be the safest. Also, these factors are pushing people to look elsewhere in the world for jobs. While this may favor US citizens and permanent residents to some extent when it comes to US jobs, this comes at a massive cost to our educational system and society, as our peers and colleagues no longer feel welcome in the US. If you are one of these people feeling unwelcome, I am so sorry, but I am glad to report there are many wonderful jobs around the world that don’t require you to live in fear. I hope you can return to the US one day and feel that you are welcome here once again.

Summary

It’s a rough job market year out there, but all hope is not lost. There are a lot of opportunities for people with graduate degrees in economics, but we need to be creative and think outside the JOE box. I continue to see many wonderful jobs every day and will keep posting them at Applied Econ Jobs. Also, I want to remind you that there is absolutely no shame in taking a completely different path not connected to economics at all. (This is true regardless of whether it’s a “rough” year or a “great” year.) If you need permission to start your pipe dream job, consider it granted! What’s most important is not that you have the title Economist next to your name but that you are feeling happy and satisfied with your life. It may confuse some of the people you know to change careers or fields like this, but the people who really care about you will support you.

As always, wishing you all the best in your job search!