Economist/Statistician (Economics)

Summary

The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures labor market activity, working conditions, price changes, and productivity in the U.S. economy to support public and private decision making. The position is located in the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics. This is an interdisciplinary position and may be filled either as an Economist or Statistician (Economics).

Duties

Duties include, but are not limited to, the following: Initiating and analyzing the operation of data programs, including survey data collection, acquisition of data from non-survey sources, data processing and dissemination, and the development of systems to implement these functions Defining objectives, requirements, and measures of success; evaluating performance; and identifying actions for improvement Managing contracts for the performance of NLS program activities Directing special projects as a team leader that may cross divisional lines, may affect both federal and state participants, and may have a substantial impact on OEUS plans and operations Providing senior management with analyses of problems and authoritative economic advice and consulting services on important decisions

Qualifications

Basic Requirement Economist, 0110: A) Degree: economics, that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus. OR B) Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Statistician, 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 will 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) 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. Specialized Experience In addition to the basic requirements above, applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-13, in the Federal Service. This one year of specialized experience must be in or related to the field of economics or statistics and must have equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, judgment, and technical competence in order to successfully perform the duties of the position to be filled. To be minimally qualified, applicants must demonstrate at least 2 of the experience indicators below: Planning, developing, implementing, or managing surveys or other data collections; Developing and overseeing complex contracts; Conducting research on social and cognitive development, educational or professional training, or labor market activities of individuals; Analyzing data from longitudinal survey(s); Building coalitions or leading teams to advance organizational goals Selective Placement Factor Selective placement factors are skills, knowledge, abilities, or other worker characteristics that are basic to and essential for satisfactory performance on the job. Selective placement factors are prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for a position. Applicants who do not meet the criteria for a selective placement factor are ineligible for further consideration. The agency has identified a selective placement factor for this position, which is the following: Possession of at least a Level I Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer's Representatives (FAC-COR) or equivalent certification in Contracting Applicants must document proof of certification within their resume. Failure to do so will result in the application being rated as ineligible. Applicants may also provide a copy of their certificate with their application documents under the document type Professional Certification(s). Applicants without the selective placement factor will be rated ineligible and will not be considered for this position.

Education

Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service. If your education was completed at a foreign college or university, you must show comparability to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States and comparability to applicable minimum coursework requirements for this position. Click Evaluation of Foreign Education for more information.