What it pays
Government survey numbers — not estimates, not ads.
Half of all Economists in the U.S. earn more than $124,720 a year — the middle 80% land between $67,360 and $238,060. About 17,790 people in the U.S. do this work. Figures are for the U.S. occupation group “Economists”. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, published 2025.) In India, Professionals earn about ₹38,298 a month on average — around ₹4.6 lakh a year (government PLFS survey via ILOSTAT, occupation-family figure).
$124,720typical pay / year
17,790people in this work
$238,060+top 10% earn
₹4.6 lakha year in India (family avg)
Think you get this job?Six quick questions on how it really works — with a hint and the reason behind every answer.
Test yourself →The work, task by task
These are the real jobs-to-be-done, not a wish list. Each task shows where we found it, and the prompt underneath is written for that exact task.
Analysing4
Forecast economic trends
+Produce a three-year baseline macro forecast for GDP, inflation, and unemployment using the national accounts…
Forecast economic trends
+Produce a three-year baseline macro forecast for GDP, inflation, and unemployment using the national accounts and latest survey indicators, include scenario bounds and a short memo on model assumptions by Friday close.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Power BIESCOjob descriptionsWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Evaluate policy impacts
+Evaluate the fiscal stimulus proposal's likely impacts on output and employment, run counterfactuals, compute…
Evaluate policy impacts
+Evaluate the fiscal stimulus proposal's likely impacts on output and employment, run counterfactuals, compute welfare and distributional metrics for low-income households, and deliver results with policy recommendations to the minister's office by Tuesday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Exceljob descriptionsO*NETWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Analyze market activity and trends
+Produce a weekly briefing summarising market activity and trends for the central bank desk: include GDP and…
Analyze market activity and trends
+Produce a weekly briefing summarising market activity and trends for the central bank desk: include GDP and inflation momentum, asset price movements, a one-paragraph implication, and three charts updated for this Wednesday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft PowerPointjob descriptionsWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Analyse statistical data
+Clean and analyse the latest national accounts and household survey microdata, run descriptive stats and two…
Analyse statistical data
+Clean and analyse the latest national accounts and household survey microdata, run descriptive stats and two regression specifications testing consumption response, then produce a one-page results memo by Tuesday.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsESCOjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Learning1
Teach theories, principles, and methods of economics.
+Prepare a three-hour lecture for first-year economics students that covers core macroeconomic theories, the…
Teach theories, principles, and methods of economics.
+Prepare a three-hour lecture for first-year economics students that covers core macroeconomic theories, the scientific method in economics, and two applied problem sets with solutions to hand out on Friday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft WordESCOjob descriptionsO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Get approval1
Write about economic policy
+Draft a 1,200-word policy note arguing for a calibrated fiscal rule: summarise evidence, show three simple…
Write about economic policy
+Draft a 1,200-word policy note arguing for a calibrated fiscal rule: summarise evidence, show three simple back-of-envelope calculations on debt dynamics, and end with three actionable recommendations for the finance minister.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordESCOWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
The daily work14
Study how societies allocate resources
+Estimate how the national economy currently allocates labor, capital and public spending across agriculture,…
Study how societies allocate resources
+Estimate how the national economy currently allocates labor, capital and public spending across agriculture, industry and services using the latest quarterly datasets, document the model assumptions, run sensitivity checks, and save a reproducible results sheet for publication.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Exceljob descriptionsWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Study international trade and global economics
+Assemble bilateral trade and tariff data for the last ten years, construct a gravity-style regression with…
Study international trade and global economics
+Assemble bilateral trade and tariff data for the last ten years, construct a gravity-style regression with controls for GDP and distance, test robustness to alternative specifications, and produce tables and charts ready for the journal submission.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsMicrosoft Exceljob descriptionsWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Study economic and statistical data in area of specialization, such as finance, labor, or agriculture.
+Compile the sectoral time series for finance, labor market, and crop yields in my specialization, run…
Study economic and statistical data in area of specialization, such as finance, labor, or agriculture.
+Compile the sectoral time series for finance, labor market, and crop yields in my specialization, run stationarity and cointegration tests, estimate the preferred dynamic model, and export the output and annotated code for peer review.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Review documents written by others.
+Read the draft policy brief on unemployment trends from Ana, mark factual errors in the data and…
Review documents written by others.
+Read the draft policy brief on unemployment trends from Ana, mark factual errors in the data and inconsistencies in the model assumptions, add margin notes about alternative specifications, and return it with a short cover memo for revision.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Supervise research projects and students' study projects.
+Set up the research timeline for three PhD projects, assign data tasks and deadlines to each student,…
Supervise research projects and students' study projects.
+Set up the research timeline for three PhD projects, assign data tasks and deadlines to each student, schedule monthly check-ins, and upload the project plan and evaluation rubric so progress can be tracked.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OfficeMicrosoft OutlookO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Provide litigation support, such as writing reports for expert testimony or testifying as an expert witness.
+Draft the economic expert report for the Smith litigation: state methodology, present the damage calculations…
Provide litigation support, such as writing reports for expert testimony or testifying as an expert witness.
+Draft the economic expert report for the Smith litigation: state methodology, present the damage calculations with sensitivity bounds, attach the data appendix and replicate code, and produce a sworn summary for the court date next month.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordMicrosoft ExcelO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Forecast production and consumption of renewable resources and supply, consumption, and depletion of non-renewable resources.
+Produce a five‑year forecast of renewable resource production and consumption and of non‑renewable resource…
Forecast production and consumption of renewable resources and supply, consumption, and depletion of non-renewable resources.
+Produce a five‑year forecast of renewable resource production and consumption and of non‑renewable resource supply, consumption, and depletion rates using current data, state model assumptions, run sensitivity scenarios for oil and minerals, and deliver a spreadsheet of results and charts by next Wednesday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Collect financial and socioeconomic data
+Gather the latest national and sectoral financial and socioeconomic series through 2025, reconcile source…
Collect financial and socioeconomic data
+Gather the latest national and sectoral financial and socioeconomic series through 2025, reconcile source differences, clean and harmonise the time series, and output a single analysis dataset with metadata and a changelog by end of day Friday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Accessjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Communicate findings via reports and presentations
+Draft a policy brief and slide deck that summarise methods, key elasticities, headline numbers, uncertainty…
Communicate findings via reports and presentations
+Draft a policy brief and slide deck that summarise methods, key elasticities, headline numbers, uncertainty bounds, and three policy implications from the latest model run, then export a printable report and 12‑slide presentation for Thursday's senior briefing.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordMicrosoft PowerPointjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Participate in think tanks and publish research
+Prepare a draft paper for submission: write introduction and methods, include model equations, run robustness…
Participate in think tanks and publish research
+Prepare a draft paper for submission: write introduction and methods, include model equations, run robustness checks, format references, and produce a working manuscript and data appendix for circulation to the think tank by Monday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Wordjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Conduct financial statement analysis
+Analyse the latest corporate and government financial statements to extract operating balances, net…
Conduct financial statement analysis
+Analyse the latest corporate and government financial statements to extract operating balances, net investment, and sectoral fixed capital formation, normalise accounting differences, and produce a memo with charts and key ratios by Friday noon.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Study trends
+Track and quantify economic and resource trends over the past decade, update trend decompositions, test…
Study trends
+Track and quantify economic and resource trends over the past decade, update trend decompositions, test structural breaks, and deliver an annotated time‑series workbook and one‑page trend summary for the research director next Tuesday.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsMicrosoft ExcelESCO
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Advise on product feasibility
+Assess whether projected demand, input cost estimates, and estimated productivity gains make the prototype…
Advise on product feasibility
+Assess whether projected demand, input cost estimates, and estimated productivity gains make the prototype commercially viable over five years, run sensitivity scenarios for high and low demand and a 20% cost overrun, and produce a one‑page memo with a recommended go/no‑go and key assumptions.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft WordESCO
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Advise on tax policies
+Model the fiscal and distributional effects of the proposed tax change on consumption, labour supply, and…
Advise on tax policies
+Model the fiscal and distributional effects of the proposed tax change on consumption, labour supply, and revenue for the next three years, include baseline and two alternative behavioural responses, and deliver a short briefing note with confidence intervals and policy recommendation.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsMicrosoft ExcelESCO
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Says who?
These are the pages we read to build this. Open any of them and check us.
The logs, files & records this job keeps
Shared with other careers — the same record means something different in each.
Related careers
Same family of work — each with its own tasks and prompts.
The LLOS Work Atlas is the world's largest evidenced task library — a map of human work, with a ready prompt behind every task. 1,774 careers · every task named by the sources that witnessed it — O*NET, ESCO, real job descriptions, Wikipedia — and the deepest tasks by several at once. And it is honest about limits: where AI cannot help, the map says so.
The rest of the map
Same library, five ways in.
Copyright © LLOS.ai · 2026 — original pedagogy, voice, and design — all rights reserved.
Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses
Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses