In these roles, Jarmin championed modernization efforts across the Census Bureau including the introduction of internet response for the 2020 Census and moving to 100 percent internet data collection for the Economic Census beginning in 2017. He has overseen the introduction of new nonsurvey data to improve economic indicators, the consolidation of surveys, and the deployment of enterprise investments to minimize system, application, and dissemination costs. From 2011 to 2016, Jarmin served as assistant director for research and methodology where he oversaw a broad research program in statistics, survey methodology, and economics aimed at improving economic and social measurements within the federal statistical system. Since beginning his career at the Census Bureau in 1992, he has also served as the chief economist, chief of the Center for Economic Studies, and as a research economist.

Jarmin holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Oregon. An elected fellow of the American Statistical Association, he has published papers in the areas of industrial organization, business dynamics, entrepreneurship, technology and firm performance, urban economics, data access, and statistical disclosure avoidance.