An early-career economist applying economic methods to financial questions — bank risk, monetary policy transmission, market behavior, financial stability — typically at a central bank, regulator, asset manager, or research consultancy. PhD or strong masters in economics is the common entry point.
Junior Financial Economist pay typically runs $62K–$82K at this level, and jobs in this field are projected to hold roughly steady through 2034.
Most days tend to involve research work — running econometric analyses, building or refining models, drafting working papers, and supporting senior economists on policy or business questions. You'll often work in statistical software (Stata, R, Python), prepare research briefings, attend research seminars, and write up findings for internal or external audiences.
The variance between settings is real — Federal Reserve, ECB, or other central bank junior economists work on monetary policy or financial stability analysis with frequent publication; bank regulators (OCC, FDIC) focus on supervisory analytics; large asset managers and hedge funds employ junior economists for macro views; consulting firms (Brattle, Cornerstone, NERA) serve litigation and regulatory clients. PhD or strong Masters in economics is typical entry.
People who tend to thrive here are intellectually rigorous, comfortable with deep quantitative work, and capable of communicating findings to non-economist audiences. Strong econometrics and programming matter. The work tends to offer intellectual depth, policy or business influence, and clear progression toward senior economist roles, with the trade-off being the niche specialty depth — but the foundation supports long-arc careers across central banking, regulation, asset management, and academia.
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An early-career economist applying economic methods to financial questions — bank risk, monetary policy transmission, market behavior, financial stability — typically at a central bank, regulator, asset manager, or research consultancy. PhD or strong masters in economics is the common entry point.
Median pay for a Junior Financial Economist is about $115K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $62K to $213K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics, Active Listening, and Speaking.
Most people in this role hold a master's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 1.2% through 2034, with roughly 15,880 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Financial Economist, Senior Research Analyst, and Economist.
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