The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is now soliciting interest for unpaid Interns in the Bureau of Economics for Spring 2027. Both full-time and part-time opportunities are available. I wanted to reach out to let you know about this great opportunity for rising juniors and seniors with coursework in Economics, Statistics, Data Science, or Computer Science.
Below, we provide some application information for any of your students that might be interested in the position. We are open to this position being part of a person’s academic course of study (e.g., used for credit or independent study). Additional information about internships within the Bureau of Economics can be found on the FTC website, at: Intern Recruiting | Federal Trade Commission
Duties
In this role, you will gain real-world experience by working alongside PhD economists to protect consumers and promote competition in the US economy. Interns work with economists to support FTC matters, including:
- Providing economic and statistical analysis in support of antitrust investigations, consumer protection cases, and rulemaking.
- Conducting academic research and developing reports on the functioning of markets in the economy.
- A strong interest in and intuition for applied microeconomics.
- Proficiency in programming languages widely used in economics, statistics, and/or data science such as Stata, R, or Python.
- Excitement about conducting data analysis on a wide range of datasets in support of consumer protection and competition missions of the FTC.
- Interest and aptitude in working with PhD economists on economics research projects that serve the mission of the FTC.
- A desire to grow and build on skills in data analysis and microeconomics.
- Internships will run approximately from mid-January through April/May, with exact start and end dates determined based on candidate availability and the academic Spring Semester at their institution.
- The job location will be on site at the FTC Headquarters Building in Washington DC.
- Spring internships are available on both a full-time and part-time basis. Candidates will be evaluated without consideration of whether they are applying for a full-time or part-time position.
- The position is only available to US Citizens and Nationals.
- Send a resume, cover letter, and unofficial transcript to econ_interns@ftc.gov
- The deadline for applications is 10/1/2026 at 11:59PM EST.
- Please note in your email that you are applying for the Spring semester, and whether you are interested in interning at the FTC full-time or part-time.
- Cover letter: A strong cover letter will include the following:
- A discussion of your interest in economics and the FTC.
- Details on your experience with statistics, econometrics, and programming, including through coursework, class projects, employment, or any other experience.
- Details about your interest and experience with economic research, including any noteworthy projects, employment, or oral presentations.
- Details about your interest and experience in public policy, including in any topics related to antitrust or consumer protection, though these are not required.
- Any other relevant experience or interest.
