It is not a good year to go on the job market for US Economics PhDs. Most state schools are not hiring, and the financial sector is dead. Regarding private schools, those with larger endowments are still hiring, though moderately. Those with smaller endowments are scared to hire as they do not know yet how many students will show up in the Fall.
Bad years can happen, the question is what comes next. I have the strong suspicion that there will be many last minute visiting positions, especially among the smaller private schools. Those positions, if they happen, may convert to tenure-track next year. State schools will, however, not hire next year, even if the economy improves. Next year's cohort of PhDs will join this year's backlog chasing few positions. The excess supply of PhDs will persist for several years, as we have seen after the previous recessions.
There is little prospect of significant absorption of the excess supply abroad. The only hope is the government sector, which is supposed to increase its regulatory oversight and plenty of projects to launch. This could also mean more jobs with consultants, but those have not materialized yet.
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