John Cawley

Looking forward to seeing everyone at #2025APPAM in Seattle!
(Fingers crossed regarding flight delays/cancellations...)

CC: @appam.bsky.social @maxwellsu.bsky.social

Hope you can join us, March 18-20, 2026, University of Galway

www.maxwell.syr.edu/research/cen...

These graphs are updated weekly and are available online here:
www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co...

Clearly, this is a year of weak demand for PhD economists in many sectors - especially government, but also academia and the private sector. Best wishes to all of those on the market this year.

A relative bright spot is hiring in the private sector - while low, it is still comparable to that in some recent years.

Due to DOGE cuts and then the shutdown, the number of listings for jobs in the US Federal government is down about 75% compared to recent years.

The number of nonacademic jobs on JOE is also lower than during COVID - 38.2% lower.

The number of full-time academic jobs outside the U.S. listed on JOE is down, and lower than during COVID. Could partly be due to increased formalization of European mkt and perhaps less use of JOE.

Among full-time academic jobs in the US, the demand is perhaps better at 4-year colleges than at universities with a grad program.

In terms of full-time academic jobs in the US, it is definitely better than during COVID (56.8% more listings), but clearly worse than all years since (e.g. 35.1% fewer listings than this time last year).

New data on the #EconJobMarket as of Nov 2. Based on total # of job listings on JOE, this year continues to be even weaker (by 11%) than during COVID (2020). 1/many #EconSky

A short-lived tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in Cook County, IL reduced purchases by 22.5 percent but after its repeal, purchases bounced back to baseline quantities, from Felipe Lozano Rojas, @johncawley.bsky.social, and David E. Frisvold www.nber.org/papers/w34412

Speakers include: @michelebelot.bsky.social @bradfowd1.bsky.social @johncawley.bsky.social Rena Conti, Edel Doherty, David Grabowski, @johnmullahy.bsky.social Cormac O'Grada, Ciaran O'Neill, Mark Sculpher, @davidslusky.bsky.social @justinsydnor.bsky.social & Rebecca Thornton

Ireland Masterclass in Health Economics

Registration is open for the Fifth Ireland Masterclass in Health Economics, which will be held March 18-20, 2026 in Galway at @uniofgalway.bsky.social.

To register, email Ciaran O'Neill at Ciaran.ONeill@qub.ac.uk

More info here:
www.maxwell.syr.edu/research/cen...

Fewer full-time non-academic job openings than during COVID, with jobs in the US Federal Govt particularly low (not surprising given DOGE and the shutdown)

FT academic jobs outside the US also down, and worse than during COVID (2020).

Relatively speaking, it's a worse year for jobs in research univ than in liberal arts colleges/teaching institutions

Updated graphs posted on the JOE website, with data thru Oct 19.

In brief: # full-time academic jobs in US definitely higher than during COVID (2020) but considerably lower than every other year since.

www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co...

The fall edition of the @ashecon.bsky.social newsletter came out last week with 6 great articles

1. @jimflynn9.bsky.social interviewed ASHEcon President-Elect @johncawley.bsky.social

www.ashecon.org/activities/n...

1/7

Graphs showing listings on JOE by sector are updated weekly and are available here:
www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co...

Zero new jobs in the federal government posted on JOE in the past three weeks.
Not surprising given the government shutdown (which began Oct 1), but still grim. At least two-thirds fewer such jobs posted in 2025 than in each of the past six years at this time.
#econjobmarket

I had the great privilege of interviewing @johncawley.bsky.social for the ASHEcon newsletter. Check out our discussion and several other great interviews in the fall edition of the newsletter!

www.ashecon.org/category/new...

It’s definitely not a criticism; I know it’s not the economists’ choice to not hire. It is true that a golden opportunity is being missed.

A greater genetic predisposition to being overweight and obese reduces the probability of earning a high school or college degree, from Jane Greve, Mette T. Jensen, Esben Agerbo, and @johncawley.bsky.social www.nber.org/papers/w34322

Happily, everyone can now track all of these numbers in real time using the AEA's online dashboards. Many thanks to Michael Albert at the AEA for doing all the work to make this possible.

Best of luck to all candidates on the market this year.

More new data: # jobs in banking/finance/business/industry: on the low side but similar to the # jobs in 2023 and 2024.

More new data: # jobs in consulting or research: here things look pretty good, with the # of jobs around average for the past 6 years.

New data: # jobs in Federal Government - down 40% or more compared to every year since 2019. Not surprising given the DOGE cuts and government shutdown, but still unpleasant to see.

Full-time nonacademic jobs (anywhere in world): -20.8% fewer now than even in the worst COVID year (2020). Let's next look within subcategories...

Listings on JOE for full-time jobs at non-US academic institutions. Perhaps surprisingly, lower (-13.2%) than even the worst COVID year (2020). Non-US universities may be missing an incredible opportunity to scoop up really good job candidates.