White House Profile
Jason Furman
Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers

Jason Furman was confirmed by the Senate on August 1, 2013 as the 28th Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. In this role, he serves as President Obama’s Chief Economist and a Member of the Cabinet. Furman has served the President since the beginning of the Administration, previously holding the position of Principal Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President. Immediately prior to the Administration, Furman was Economic Policy Director for the President’s campaign in 2008 and a member of the Presidential Transition Team.

Furman held a variety of posts in public policy and research before his work with President Obama. In public policy, Furman worked at both the Council of Economic Advisers and National Economic Council during the Clinton administration and also at the World Bank. In research, Furman was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and also has served in visiting positions at various universities, including NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Policy. Furman has conducted research in a wide range of areas, such as fiscal policy, tax policy, health economics, Social Security, and domestic and international macroeconomics. In addition to numerous articles in scholarly journals and periodicals, Furman is the editor of two books on economic policy. Furman holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

Jason Furman's Posts

  • 4 Ways Trade Drives American Innovation

    Creating good jobs at good wages is central to the President’s strategy of middle-class economics. Trade is an integral component of that strategy. Here’s why.


  • The Employment Situation in March

    The March employment report reflects a pace of monthly job growth below the recent trend, coming on the heels of February’s strong report. The unemployment rate was stable, broader measures of unemployment fell, and hourly earnings continued their rise.


  • The Economic Benefits of the Affordable Care Act

    The Affordable Care Act is generating major benefits for our economy by expanding access to affordable insurance coverage and reforming our health care delivery system to reduce costs and improve quality.


  • Third Estimate of GDP for the Fourth Quarter of 2014

    This GDP report is consistent with a wide range of indicators showing continued labor market strengthening and improvement in household and corporate balance sheets.


  • The Employment Situation in February

    With another strong employment report released this morning, we have now seen twelve straight months of private-sector job gains above 200,000 -- the first time that has happened since 1977.


  • Second Estimate of GDP for the Fourth Quarter of 2014

    The second estimate of GDP report for the fourth quarter of 2014 is consistent with a wide range of indicators showing further labor market strengthening, increasing domestic energy security, and continued low health cost growth.


  • The Employment Situation in January

    With today’s strong employment report, we have now seen eleven straight months of job gains above 200,000—the first time that has happened since the 1990s.


  • Advance Estimate of GDP for the Fourth Quarter of 2014

    Economic growth in the fourth quarter was consistent with a broad range of other indicators showing solid improvement in the labor market, rising consumer sentiment, increasing domestic energy security, and continued low health cost growth.


  • Jobs

    The Employment Situation in December

    This solid employment report caps off a strong year for the U.S. labor market, which achieved a number of important milestones in 2014. Total job growth in 2014 was the strongest since 1999, while the unemployment rate fell at the fastest pace in three decades.


  • Third Estimate of GDP for the Third Quarter of 2014

    Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.0 percent at an annual rate in the third quarter of 2014 — the strongest single quarter since 2003 — according to the third estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.


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