I'm a history student so clearly biased!
But I want to say that whether you study history or economics you will still acquire transferable skills in whatever employemnet you choose to take. History degrees are no picnic- they require a very large amount of reading and writing. I go to a touniveristy which has been named 2nd in country for history, but I think in most places its the same- so let me tell you I have to read at minimun- 4 articles per seminar (5-6 seminars a week- articles between 20-50 pages) pluss a large amount of written work- (in my second year and done 15 essays at around average 2,500 mark) which all require 10-12 items of reading (whole books mostly) per essay. History at degree level is very differnet to A level. It's a transference to a huge focus on historiography from the 'what happened' at A level- then to working first hand with primary sources which is something you recieve training to do. The misconceptions about history degrees come from people who don't study history and think they know what a history degree entails.
Some transferable skills of history degrees are;
The ability to time manage and meet deadlines
ability to synthesise a large amount of data into a succeint logical argument
excellent reading and writing skills
excellent debate/argument skills
Although the focus is on history it still incoperates awareness of interdisciplinary approaches, cos history is rarely just history anymore- ie politics, sociology, anthropology, psychology and historical varieties of economics.
So to summerise- choose a degree that you will enjoy for 3 years- its an intence period of study and if you hate it you will be very unhappy and are unlikely to do well. History is not vocational but it has lost of transferable skills whcih are well respected by employers.