system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How bad is the political science job market, really?

Everyone I talk to about the job market in academia basically just sighs and starts speaking as if they’re in hell. I believe them, but are there any numbers to see just *how* bad it is?

Is there any good data that shows overall amount of jobs and new PhDs per year? I’m looking at political science specifically, if that helps.
gpt
Assuming you are in the USA:

The APSA doesn't track numbers of advertised positions and placements as well as the MLA does for English, and the MLA's efforts aren't that good. Maybe a report every few years, while APSA produces one maybe every decade or two.

I tell all social science grad students, regardless of field, to train in statistics and GIS. Going to grad school for an academic career is a sucker bet at this point, unless one is at a H-Y-P level institutions.