• Talented individuals with a background in economics, statistics, or a related field make the best RAs.
• Experience with large databases and statistical packages—such as SAS, STATA, and MATLAB, R Basic, Julia—is valuable.
• We’re also looking for candidates with solid analytical and decision-making abilities and good communication skills.


RAs are primarily responsible for:
• Assisting economists in the analysis of current public policy issues and events
  RAs help economists conduct current analysis and other short-term research on monetary policy, bank regulation, payments systems, financial markets, and the state of the U.S. and global economies.
• Assisting economists in long-term, academically oriented research projects
  RAs help economists plan and execute long-term research on a wide range of applied and theoretical topics. Many RAs have the opportunity to coauthor scholarly articles.
Day-to-day activities include:
• Performing econometric, computational, and analytical research intended for inclusion in Bank publications as well as academic journals
• Programming in statistical packages, such as SAS, Stata, MATLAB, R, and Julia
• Running financial, banking, macroeconomic, and international forecasting models
• Developing spreadsheet/web macros and programs to facilitate and improve data manipulation and analysis
• Preparing background materials for and assisting in the formulation of reports or presentations to the Bank’s president and senior management
• Attending presentations given by New York Fed economists and visiting scholars

Most RAs leaving the New York Fed enter graduate or professional degree programs. Many pursue a Ph.D. in economics or finance, but others have gone on to top business schools, law schools, and public policy or other advanced degree programs. In recent years, RAs have moved on to top Ph.D. programs in economics at Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. New York Fed RAs have a strong track record of obtaining fellowships, including five from the National Science Foundation in 2021.

Fortune 500 companies and other top employers are seeking the skills and expertise you will gain as an RA. Former RAs have accepted positions at the Bank, while others have become leaders in the business, banking, higher-education, research, and nonprofit sectors.

 

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is located at 33 Liberty Street, between Nassau and William Streets, in downtown Manhattan.

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As an RA, your area of focus will largely align with that of the department you are assigned to. The Research Group has four divisions, each containing three departments:

Financial Intermediation Policy Research

• Banking Studies
• Climate Risk Studies
• Non-Bank Financial Institution Studies

Financial Stability Policy Research

• Capital Markets Studies
• Macrofinance Studies
• Money and Payments Studies

Household and Public Policy Research

• Consumer Behavior Studies
• Equitable Growth Studies
• Urban and Regional Studies

Monetary Policy Research

• International Studies
• Labor and Product Market Studies
• Macroeconomic and Monetary Studies

More about Research and Statistics

Experience with computers and computing programs is desirable, but a strong background in programming is not required. Many incoming RAs take advantage of in-house training courses offered in the fall.

Incoming RAs can enjoy flexible work schedules; an employer-matching 401(k) savings plan; commutation assistance; health, dental, and vision insurance; and tuition reimbursement for many individual courses, certificate programs, and graduate programs.

More about Benefits

Research Analysts receive generous tuition reimbursement for coursework and degree programs at nearby universities. In addition, the New York Fed’s strong emphasis on work/life balance helps ensure that RAs have the time they need to pursue coursework in economics, mathematics, statistics, finance, or related fields.

The Tuition Assistance Program has enabled RAs to:

• Earn a master’s degree in statistics (Columbia University) while working at the Bank
• Participate in other degree and certificate programs (New York University and Columbia University)
• Take individual graduate-level classes such as stochastic calculus, probability, statistics, real analysis, linear regression models, time series regression, linear algebra, continuous-time finance, derivative securities, graph theory, and partial differential equations.

Most RAs stay for about two years. They find that’s sufficient time to learn the economic, modeling, computational, and research skills associated with the job.

Bank policy specifies that candidates must be eligible to work in the United States on a continuous basis for other than practical training purposes. In some cases, positions require access to confidential supervisory information or Federal Open Market Committee data, which is limited to “protected individuals” as defined in U.S. federal immigration law. Protected individuals include, but are not limited to, U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, U.S. permanent residents who are not yet eligible to apply for naturalization, and U.S. permanent residents who have applied for naturalization within six months of being eligible to do so.

The New York Fed’s Undergraduate Summer Analyst Program is open to students who will have completed their sophomore year of college by the start of the internship. The program emphasizes advanced assignments—with opportunities for summer analysts to enhance their business skills through critical financial analysis, formal presentations, research and writing, and professional development activities—making it ideal for students, especially rising seniors, interested in applying for the Research Analyst position in the future.

POSITION	STARTING	DURATION	WINDOW FOR APPLYING
Research Analyst	Summer 2022	2 years	Sept 24 - Nov. 1, 2021
Internship (juniors expected graduation date Dec 2022 or Spring 2023)	June 2022	10 weeks	Sept 3 - Nov. 1
Internship (sophomores expected graduation date Dec 2023 or Spring 2024)	June 2022	8 weeks	Aug 1 - Sept. 15

More about the Undergraduate Summer Analyst Program

“My work included examining the impact of tariffs on U.S. international trade, studying passthrough of monetary policy shocks to credit card interest rates, tracking labor market dynamics using a variety of data sources, such as the Current Population Survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and online job postings from Burning Glass Technologies, and other topics related to the macroeconomy. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, I helped put together high-frequency data sources on issues such as school attendance, mobility, business activity, and alternative economic indicators to help us understand the pandemic's far-reaching impact. Many of these data sets allowed me to analyze business closures and personal consumption dynamics during the pandemic. I cannot imagine a better place than the New York Fed to experience the interaction between research and public policy.
     I have strengthened my analytical and econometric skills that I’ll utilize in my future career. I am confident in my ability to find and work with large data sets, think about the kinds of questions that the data could provide answers to, and communicate such results to an audience. I wouldn’t be able to reach this point without the inspirational economists I work for and the intimate RA community teaching and supporting me throughout the past few years.”

“As an RA on the macro team, I have contributed to a wide variety of research projects focusing on the labor market, firm dynamics, trade relationships, and household consumption. Through this diverse set of projects, I have engaged with policy-relevant research questions on a far deeper level than in my undergrad classes. The economists I worked with have been instrumental in helping me expand my knowledge base in the required subject areas. As a result, I have learned an incredible amount of macroeconomics and became more familiar with the different steps of the research process from start to finish. During my two years at the New York Fed, I have gained fluency in several programming languages—including Matlab, Stata, and Julia—and developed an intuition for working with large administrative and survey data sets. I was also able to take graduate mathematics courses as a non-degree student at NYU to further complement my economics training. My favorite aspect of the RA program is the large cohort. Working alongside other RAs, particularly during COVID times, has made it fun to come to work every day—whether in the virtual or in-person environment.”

“I had the opportunity to contribute to work promoting the stability of our economy. My primary policy project centered on helping to manage the Research Group’s repository of financial regulatory information, including data from the Call and Y-9C reports. I also taught others to use and understand this data for a wide variety of research and policy tasks. Additionally, I assisted with the production of public-facing reports on the state of the financial sector, including the Quarterly Trends for Consolidated U.S. Banking Organizations report and analyses on the impact of the Primary and Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facilities. My policy tasks provided me the opportunity to travel to the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. to take a course in financial data management.
     My research projects focused on consumer credit decisions, and further expanded my knowledge of the methods used by applied economists. I attended seminars on a broad spectrum of economic subjects, which exposed me to topics and research techniques I would have never discovered otherwise. Interacting with world-class economists has allowed me to deepen my understanding of economics as a field and prepare me for graduate school.”

“As both an intern and a research analyst, I have gained a lot of insight into economic research and policy analysis. I have worked on the Survey of Consumer Expectations, which is a monthly survey run by the New York Fed that asks consumers about their inflation and other economic expectations. I had the opportunity to co-author a research paper with Bank economists on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on inflation expectations and uncertainty.
     The New York Fed is a great place to grow as a young researcher. I learned a lot from going to seminars and brown bag lunches, and talking to economists in different functions, and I was able to take a measure theory class, utilizing the Bank’s tuition reimbursement program. One of the best parts of the research analyst program has been the mix of long-term research projects and shorter-term policy work that has a more immediate impact on the Bank. A particularly special part of the RA program has been the large, fantastic cohort of RAs. They have been an invaluable resource to me when working through coding problems, and I have made incredible friends in the process.”

“As an RA, I gained exposure to the entire research process from idea formation and exploration to submitting and revising a co-authored staff report for peer review to having my work cited by news outlets and respected academics. Working with large data sets, like high-frequency Treasury orderbook data, has taught me the value of writing efficient code, utilizing low-level languages like C++, and interacting with databases through SQL. I was able to see my work directly contribute to the policy discussion, especially as the Treasury market experienced high levels of stress in March 2020.
     Prior to working full time, I was a summer analyst and had opportunities to interact with bank leadership through events like a fireside chat with Bank President John Williams. One of the best parts of the RA program is learning from and building connections with economists, academics, industry professionals, and other RAs who are leaders in the making. My experience at the New York Fed solidified my interest in pursuing a career in research and certainly helped me gain the skills and experiences necessary to enter a competitive Ph.D. program.”

Note: Research analysts' names are in bold.

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Jessica Battisto, Nathan Godin, Claire Kramer Mills, and Asani Sarkar. 2021. “Who Benefited from PPP Loans by Fintech Lenders?” Liberty Street Economics, May 27.

Jiakai Chen, Haoyang Liu, David Rubio, Asani Sarkar, and Zhaogang Song. 2021. “Did Dealers Fail to Make Markets during the Pandemic?” Liberty Street Economics, March 24.

Peter Van Tassel and Charles Smith. 2021. “The Law of One Price in Equity Volatility Markets.” Liberty Street Economics, February 1.

Gara Afonso, Marco Cipriani, Steph Clampitt, Haitham Jendoubi, Gabriele La Spada, and Will Riordan. 2020. “How Bank Reserves Are Distributed Matters. How You Measure Their Distribution Matters Too.” Liberty Street Economics, November 24.

Jan J. J. Groen, Michael B. Nattinger, and Adam I. Noble. 2020. “Measuring Global Financial Market Stresses.” Staff Reports, no 940. September.

Jan J. J. Groen and Michael B. Nattinger. 2020. “Putting the Current Oil Price Collapse into Historical Perspective.” Liberty Street Economics. May 14.

David Dam, Davide Melcangi, Laura Pilossoph, and Will Schirmer. 2021. “Who’s Ready to Spend? Constrained Consumption across the Income Distribution.” Liberty Street Economics, May 13.

William Chen, Marco Del Negro, Michele Lenza, Giorgio Primiceri, and Andrea Tambalotti. 2020. “What’s Up with the Phillips Curve?” Liberty Street Economics, September 18.

Anna Kovner, Stephan Luck, and Sungmin An. 2020. “Implications of the COVID-19 Disruption for Corporate Leverage.” Liberty Street Economics, August 10.

Jessica Lu and Wilbert van der Klaauw. 2021. “Consumer Credit Demand, Supply, and Unmet Need during the Pandemic.” Liberty Street Economics, May 20.

Ruchi Avtar, Rajashri Chakrabarti, Maxim Pinkovskiy, and Giorgio Topa. 2021. “Racial and Income Gaps in Consumer Spending following COVID-19.” Liberty Street Economics, May 13.

Olivier Armantier, Leo Goldman, Gizem Koşar, and Wilbert van der Klaauw. 2021. “An Update on How Households Are Using Stimulus Checks.” Liberty Street Economics, April 7.

Olivier Armantier, Gizem Koşar, Rachel Pomerantz, and Wilbert van der Klaauw. 2020. “The Disproportionate Effects of COVID-19 on Households with Children.” Liberty Street Economics. August 13.

William Chen, Marco Del Negro, Ethan Matlin, and Reca Sarfati. 2020. “The New York Fed DSGE Model Forecast—June 2020.” Liberty Street Economics. June 19.

Daniel J. Lewis, Karel Mertens, James H. Stock and Mihir Trivedi. 2020. “Measuring Real Activity Using a Weekly Economic Index.” Staff Reports, no. 920. September.

ACADEMIC JOURNALS, CONFERENCE VOLUMES, AND SCHOLARLY BOOKS

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Rajashri Chakrabarti and Max Livingston. 2021. “Tough Choices: New Jersey Schools during the Great Recession and Beyond.” Economic Policy Review, vol. 27, no. 1 (July).

Linda Goldberg and April Meehl. 2020. “Complexity in Large U.S. Banks.” Economic Policy Review, vol. 26, no. 2. (March).

Brandyn Bok, Daniele Caratelli, Domenico Giannone, Argia Sbordone, and Andrea Tambalotti. 2018. “Macroeconomic Nowcasting and Forecasting with Big Data.” Annual Review of Economics, vol. 10, no. 1 (August): 615-43.

Meta Brown, John Grigsby, Wilbert van der Klaauw, Jaya Wen, and Basit Zafar. 2016. “Financial Education and the Debt Behavior of the Young.” The Review of Financial Studies 29, no. 9 (September): 2490-522.

Joshua Abel, Robert Rich, Joseph Song, and Joseph Tracy. 2016. “The Measurement and Behavior of Uncertainty: Evidence from the ECB Survey of Professional Forecasters.” Journal of Applied Econometrics 31, no. 3 (April-May): 533-50.

After their time at the New York Fed, RAs typically pursue graduate studies, enter the workforce, become economics professors, or even join our staff.

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“For me, working at the New York Fed as an RA in the Research Group was the perfect antidote to school before going back for more school. It offered me the chance to learn skills that are better taught on the job than in the classroom, and also gave me the opportunity to contribute to meaningful projects in interesting ways at the same time. It is an exceedingly fun, friendly, and collaborative environment—one where everyone's opinions and contributions are heard and valued, and where I made many close friends.”

“The RA position at the New York Fed offers unparalleled preparation for those who plan to pursue graduate school in economics and finance. Aside from dealing with large, complex data sets and estimating models using statistical programming packages, RAs work closely with Fed economists on research, gaining invaluable insight into how such projects are done at a high level. Learning the institutional details of the banking system and the financial-sector landscape has also helped me immensely in grad school when formulating my own research questions on financial intermediation. Weekly seminars by outside scholars provide another great opportunity to learn about economics and the research agendas now being pursued in many subfields. And as if that weren’t enough, the people at the New York Fed are great; you’ll learn a ton, make lasting friendships, and deepen your professional network.”

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“Working as an RA at the New York Fed is one of the best ways to get your feet wet as a research economist and to figure out whether pursuing a Ph.D. is right for you. At the New York Fed, you will have the opportunity to collaborate with an amazing group of economists. And you will acquire a range of hard skills (programming, econometrics, building economic models) and soft skills (identifying interesting research questions) that will prove to be invaluable if you decide to pursue a research career.”

“I really enjoyed my time as an RA at the New York Fed. I acquired hard skills for data analysis and model estimation and was exposed to economic research topics in the fields of macroeconomics and monetary policy—subject areas completely different from my primary focus on education and labor economics as an undergraduate. Working in a mixed academic and policy environment also gave me perspective on how to actively interpret and apply new models in the context of the changing economy and, more importantly, shed light on the gap between existing models and policy demands today. Seeing the need for both theoretical and empirical models firsthand has fueled my research interests and enriched my understanding of the important interplay between academic research and policy.”