Post job

What does an economic consultant do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read
Quoted expert
Wendy Stock Ph.D.

An economic consultant is responsible for analyzing data statistics and market conditions that affect the performance of the production and manufacturing processes of an organization. Economic consultants develop business plans to address economic difficulties based on the research and data methodologies. They write reports for the management's reference and discuss sales forecasts, as well as the availability of resources depending on the market changes. An economic consultant should have excellent communication and analytical skills, especially in helping the organization identify opportunities in the long run that would generate more revenues and profits.

On this page

Economic consultant responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real economic consultant resumes:

  • Provide SharePoint development and administration, budget and financial reporting; manage invoicing; and develop training manuals and user guides.
  • Generate and analyze data sets using SAS.
  • Modify legacy SAS code to run more reliably and e ciently.
  • Educate professionals on the CPT coding system and the circumstances under which private insurers and Medicaid would accept claims.
  • Focuse on business strategy, sustainability in LATAM, and the influence of macro trends on specific investment opportunities.
  • Maintain and handle the delivery of key findings base on clinical results and financial risk to improve customer ROI.
  • Determine Medicaid eligibility for foster and adoption assistance population.
  • Assist national and multi-national companies with investment interests with micro and macro economic research.
  • Utilize SharePoint database to document production delays, providing information to assist PSEG during final cost disputes and potential future litigation.
  • Evaluate the relationship between regional industry clusters and state infrastructure systems using economic base analysis, GIS, and policy research.

Economic consultant skills and personality traits

We calculated that 19% of Economic Consultants are proficient in SAS, SQL, and Data Analysis. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Problem-solving skills, and Time-management skills.

We break down the percentage of Economic Consultants that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • SAS, 19%

    Involved in process improvement mainly through enhancements to SAS code, Excel macros and built-in quality assurance steps.

  • SQL, 18%

    Use of SQL, VBA, and XML parsing to build tools to accelerate requirements understanding for business analysts.

  • Data Analysis, 11%

    Maintain and analyze state and federal workforce databases Conduct analysis of data to answer policy questions Develop data analysis tools using R

  • Financial Analysis, 10%

    Performed multinational industry research involving strategic, operational and financial analysis as part of economic transfer pricing review

  • PowerPoint, 6%

    Generated Executive PowerPoint reports aimed at summarizing the annual findings of periodic benchmark and trend analysis, and identifying discrepancies.

  • Statistical Analyses, 5%

    Analyzed financial statements, conducted statistical analyses, and developed financial models to determine lost profits.

Most economic consultants use their skills in "sas," "sql," and "data analysis" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential economic consultant responsibilities here:

Interpersonal skills. The most essential soft skill for an economic consultant to carry out their responsibilities is interpersonal skills. This skill is important for the role because "management analysts work with managers and other employees of the organizations for which they provide consulting services." Additionally, an economic consultant resume shows how their duties depend on interpersonal skills: "leveraged deep knowledge of hr policies and employment law, as well as, strong interpersonal and communication skills. "

Problem-solving skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling economic consultant duties is problem-solving skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "management analysts must be able to think creatively to solve clients’ problems." According to an economic consultant resume, here's how economic consultants can utilize problem-solving skills in their job responsibilities: "leveraged understanding of medical management processes and data into impactful solutions. "

Time-management skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of economic consultants is time-management skills. This skill is critical to many everyday economic consultant duties, as "management analysts often work under tight deadlines and must use their time efficiently to complete projects on schedule." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "worked and coordinated with the bi team and guided them in the right direction to meet the deadlines. "

Analytical skills. For certain economic consultant responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "analytical skills." The day-to-day duties of an economic consultant rely on this skill, as "management analysts must be able to interpret information and use their findings to make proposals." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what economic consultants do: "provide impact and market analysis of provider contracts and fee schedules for network managers. "

Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in economic consultant job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what economic consultants do. Economic consultant responsibilities rely on this skill because "management analysts must be able to convey information clearly in both writing and speaking." You can also see how economic consultant duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "report was developed based on literature reviews, interviews with think-tank communication professionals, and organizational objectives. "

See the full list of economic consultant skills

The three companies that hire the most economic consultants are:

Choose from 10+ customizable economic consultant resume templates

Build a professional economic consultant resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your economic consultant resume.
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume
Economic Consultant Resume

Compare different economic consultants

Economic consultant vs. Analyst

Analysts are employees or individual contributors with a vast experience in a particular field that help the organization address challenges. They help the organization improve processes, policies, and other operations protocol by studying the current processes in place and determining the effectiveness of those processes. They also research industry trends and data to make sound inferences and recommendations on what the company should do to improve their numbers. Analysts recommend business solutions and often help the organization roll out these solutions. They ensure that the proposed action plans are effective and produce the desired results.

We looked at the average economic consultant salary and compared it with the wages of an analyst. Generally speaking, analysts are paid $8,760 lower than economic consultants per year.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both economic consultant and analyst positions are skilled in sas, data analysis, and financial analysis.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, economic consultant responsibilities require skills like "sql," "powerpoint," "statistical analyses," and "analyze data." Meanwhile a typical analyst has skills in areas such as "customer service," "troubleshoot," "management system," and "project management." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Analysts earn the highest salaries when working in the technology industry, with an average yearly salary of $79,330. On the other hand, economic consultants are paid more in the professional industry with an average salary of $101,775.analysts tend to reach lower levels of education than economic consultants. In fact, analysts are 20.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 5.6% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Economic consultant vs. Data analyst

Data analysts are responsible for interpreting the company's statistics and providing sound recommendations to the organization. They manage the organization's data sets, usually related to market performance, finance, or human resources. They are in charge of studying the available data, spotting trends, interpreting what the data and the trends mean, and recommending suggestions that will help the organization perform better. Their recommendations should also be relevant and backed up with strong analyses. Data analysts are expected to have a good grasp of the current market trends in the industry.

Data analyst positions earn lower pay than economic consultant roles. They earn a $7,425 lower salary than economic consultants per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both economic consultants and data analysts have skills such as "sas," "data analysis," and "powerpoint. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real economic consultant resumes. While economic consultant responsibilities can utilize skills like "sql," "financial analysis," "statistical analyses," and "business problems," data analysts use skills like "python," "power bi," "data management," and "visualization."

Data analysts may earn a lower salary than economic consultants, but data analysts earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $86,172. On the other hand, economic consultants receive higher pay in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $101,775.data analysts earn lower levels of education than economic consultants in general. They're 17.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 5.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for economic consultants in the next 3-5 years?

Wendy Stock Ph.D.Wendy Stock Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Professor of Economics, Associate Editor, Journal of Economic Education, Co-Director, MSU Initiative for Regulation and Applied Economic Analysis, Montana State University

Of course, demand for people with online networking skills (Zoom, WebEx, and the like) will increase. Economics is increasingly a data-oriented field, and economics majors are increasingly trained in hands-on econometrics and data analysis.

Economic consultant vs. Business analyst-consultant

A business analyst-consultant is responsible for overseeing the project management and ensuring that the operations meet the agreed-upon project deliverables. Business analyst-consultants closely coordinate with the clients for their specifications and requirements, monitoring the resources and processes for the project completion, and aligning those to the clients' budget goals. A business analyst-consultant helps the development team on strategizing techniques for brand promotions with minimal costs with maximum quality and productivity. They should have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially on identifying business opportunities to drive revenues and increase profitability.

On average scale, business analyst-consultants bring in higher salaries than economic consultants. In fact, they earn a $8,360 higher salary per year.By looking over several economic consultants and business analyst-consultants resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "data analysis," "cms," and "sme." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an economic consultant is likely to be skilled in "sas," "sql," "financial analysis," and "powerpoint," while a typical business analyst-consultant is skilled in "strong analytical," "business process," "project management," and "business analysts."

Business analyst-consultants make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $105,940. On the other hand, economic consultants are paid the highest salary in the professional industry, with average annual pay of $101,775.Most business analyst-consultants achieve a lower degree level compared to economic consultants. For example, they're 12.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 6.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Economic consultant vs. Small business consultant

A small business consultant specializes in developing and recommending strategies to optimize the daily operations of small businesses. They typically meet with clients to identify their needs and preferences, determine their short and long-term goals, perform market research and analysis to find business or client opportunities, determine the strengths and weaknesses of current processes, and implement solutions against problem areas. They may also conduct risk assessments and help address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Moreover, a small business consultant must devise a plan to implement the establishment's policies and regulations, suggesting new ones as needed.

Small business consultants average a lower salary than the annual salary of economic consultants. The difference is about $33,785 per year.While their salaries may vary, economic consultants and small business consultants both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "financial analysis," "powerpoint," and "roi. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between economic consultants and small business consultants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an economic consultant might have more use for skills like "sas," "sql," "data analysis," and "statistical analyses." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of small business consultants require skills like "customer service," "business clients," "outbound calls," and "strong computer. "

The average resume of small business consultants showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to economic consultants. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 21.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 5.8%.

Types of economic consultant

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse business and financial jobs