Economist / Statistician (Economics)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) measures labor market activity, working conditions, price changes, and productivity in the U.S. economy to support public and private decision making.

This position is located in the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor (DOL), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Office of the Commissioner (OCOMM).

Qualifications:

Applicants must meet the Basic Requirements and the Minimum qualifications to qualify for each series and grade they wish to be considered for.

Basic Requirements: Economist, GS-0110:

A) Degree in economics, that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting or calculus.

OR

B) A combination of education and experience - courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Basic Requirements: Statistician (Economics), GS-1530:

A) Degree that included 15 semester hours in statistics (or in mathematics and statistics, provided at least 6 semester hours were in statistics), and 9 additional semester hours in one or more of the following: physical or biological sciences, medicine, education, or engineering; or in the social sciences including demography, history, economics, social welfare, geography, international relations, social or cultural anthropology, health sociology, political science, public administration, psychology, etc. Credit toward meeting statistical course requirements should be given for courses in which 50 percent of the course content appears to be statistical methods, e.g., courses that included studies in research methods in psychology or economics such as tests and measurements or business cycles, or courses in methods of processing mass statistical data such as tabulating methods or electronic data processing.

OR

B) A combination of education and experience - courses as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. The experience should have included a full range of professional statistical work such as (a) sampling, (b) collecting, computing, and analyzing statistical data, and (c) applying statistical techniques such as measurement of central tendency, dispersion, skewness, sampling error, simple and multiple correlation, analysis of variance, and tests of significance.

In addition to meeting the Basic Requirement above, applicants must also meet the Minimum Qualifications to be considered:

Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service.

GS-13: Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in the Federal Service.

Specialized experience should include a thorough range of complex economic professional work and training. Qualifying specialized experience includes:

• Professional knowledge and background of economic theory or statistics to analyze and interpret complex problems and data.
• Extensive experience planning, coordinating, and communicating economic, statistical, or related projects with multiple organizations.
• Expert knowledge of the concepts, methods and uses of BLS programs and data.

For additional information, refer to the Office of Personnel Management Operating Manual for Qualification Standards, Group Coverage Qualification Standards for Professional and Scientific Positions: Individual Occupation Requirements for Economist Series GS-110. Individual Occupation Requirement for Statistician Series GS-1530.

Responsibilities:

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Serves in a liaison capacity with BLS staff in the preparation of materials in support of activities or presentations for the Secretary of Labor, Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, or others within the DOL.
• Coordinate with internal and external subject matter experts to conduct agency-wide activities, such as planning, training, reviewing of data, and coordinating communications.
• Assists in developing the requirements, testing, and implementing enhancements to the BLS systems and processes.
• Coordinates internal and external meetings, speakers, and related events sponsored by the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner which includes interacting with attendees, preparing presentation material, and handling logistics.
• Represents BLS and the DOL in interagency teams and meetings with other government agencies and the public.
• Reinforces networks and alliances with the DOL and other government agencies
• Independently prepares economic projects assigned by the Commissioner and/or Deputy Commissioner.

Salary : $112,015 - $145,617