Elizabeth Crofoot

Elizabeth Crofoot is a labor economist with more than two decades of experience analyzing U.S. and global labor markets. Crofoot serves as a senior economist and principal researcher at Lightcast, a labor market analytics and consulting firm specializing in labor market trends and workforce development. Her work focuses on labor market analysis, workforce development, education, and training, engaging with business leaders to connect economic research to practical challenges.

Before joining Lightcast, Crofoot was a supervisory economist for the International Labor Comparisons program at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, where she managed a team developing comparable country measures of labor productivity, worker compensation, and unit labor costs. She published research on international manufacturing competitiveness in the BLS Monthly Labor Review. Crofoot later led the Conference Board International Labor Comparisons program, managing a team of economists to continue the BLS program following federal budget changes. At Conference Board, she authored the quarterly Global Consumer Confidence report and directed the International Labor Comparisons program.

With over 20 years of experience assessing labor market and compensation data, Crofoot researches business responses to labor and talent shortages, collaborating with global enterprises to address workforce challenges and identify emerging skills. She works with companies to pinpoint rising occupations, develop skills-based hiring and training plans, and support business leaders in making geolocation decisions. Her research addresses policy and business responses to labor market dynamics, including workforce training and women's labor force participation.

Crofoot holds an MA in economics from American University and a BA in political science and economics from the University of Washington. Her expertise includes project development, engaging with business and policy leaders, communicating economic analysis to non-expert audiences, and working with large data sets to produce policy-relevant research. Crofoot has shared insights on labor market trends in media outlets such as Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and NPR's Marketplace. She is the author of numerous reports and blogs on labor shortages and workforce development.