What happened to all the entry level economics jobs?

Oh as a side note, I understand the government has many of these jobs, but I hear from many friends that they may take up to a year to respond and I really don't want to be unemployed/stuck in a part time job for a year.

We need some more details. Have you done any internships? Do you have any other skills (language, region)? Did you go to a top school? What specific part of 'economics' do you want to work with?

Well I graduated from a small liberal arts college and I do know some mandarin Chinese. I have not done any internships, but I was a teaching assistant in economics. As far as I know most entry level economics positions are basically research/data-gathering (heavy on the statistics) type of jobs and I was looking for something along those lines.

My former neighbor has an undergrad degree in economics from a state college. He works as a loan analyst for a bank, so you might see what's available to you in the banking sector.

How much have you worked with your university's career office? It seems like there is a pretty good system set up at most schools to introduce you to potential employers.

You know Mandarin: the advice I give everybody with any proficiency in that language and an econ degree is to get your butt to China and re-up that proficiency. The statistics market over here is more thirsty than you know, and if you've got some of the language down, you're in a great position to make huge contributions to the field, and early. Check out some of the opportunities over here, you won't be disappointed.

In banking at least most of the graduate trainee positions - this seems what you're referencing - start to get offered out and taken up Q1. You will see some residual activity well into one month ago - really adjustments as folks decline / accept then decline / that sort of thing - but the bulk of the positions are offered and filled long before. It wouldn't hurt to revisit the banks, applying directly into HR for the "recent graduates" track. This is really where you'd end up, and it generally isn't a bad deal. When I was working for Deutsche Bank the program was structured (might have changed since) that graduates would enter the bank for two years of "training". In reality they'd be working and learning on the job. Earning as well, but the thing is they're rotated every three to six months, and at the end of their term (contract) they'd have to find someone at the bank to pick them up. Do a good job, and one of those departments you'd worked for will want you. If not, well, let's just say its not uncommon to see lots of CVs of people that did a stint at a Tier 1 bank (doesn't have to be Deutsche, they're all pretty similar in that regard) and left. Just moving through a firms graduate trainee is very, very helpful / educational and marketable on it's own. While each firm is different, at Detusche we tended to work graduate trainees pretty hard. Its a good chance for them to see that Investment Banking isn't all about sky high wages, rather - well, there were days I'd go to work Monday AM and not return home until Wednesday PM, sleeping under my desk on the trading floor. Finally, while there are some firms out on The West Coast, you're more realistically looking at New York. This would be true even if you went for the ratings agencies (Moody's, S&P, etc) or the various Professional Services firms that would be interested in someone with your education (Accenture, etc). In terms of taking an advanced degree after working - banking / ratings agencies would offer best prospects, across the board. Professional Services less simply because you've got far less certainty about what you'll be doing (and many of these firms are very, very IT centric - not economic oriented). Don't be afraid to email if there are specifics you'd like to discuss privately. Best of luck!

I understand the government has many of these jobs, but I hear from many friends that they may take up to a year to respond and I really don't want to be unemployed/stuck in a part time job for a year. I hear this often as well, but my experience (and the experiences of people I knew coming out of undergrad into the job market) tells me this is less true for entry-level positions in the government. The federal jobs I interviewed for - which were similar to the ones that you sound like you're looking for, at the BEA or GAO or CRS - were all set up through my college's career office during one of the job fairs that are specifically for recruiting fresh grads out of liberal arts schools, not through the USAJobs portal. I second the idea of contacting your school's career office, as they will probably be able to point you to resources. My sense is that the cycle for heavy recruiting of new grads is mostly wrapping up (it certainly is at my workplace). However, there's still jobs left; offers went out at all those places that were turned down. Just because different jobs aren't actively soliciting resumes doesn't mean they're not still hiring. Find the sorts of places you'd be interested in working at and contact HR to see if they'd be interested in receiving a resume from a recent grad. Most will probably say yes.

Econ is one of the few social science degrees where you can actually find work related to your field with a BA. I know of econ undergrads who did co-op terms here (Calgary, Canada) with energy firms and in a couple of cases with the Health Region, and they parlayed those into full-time jobs after graduation.