full employment

British  

noun

1. a state in which the labour force and other economic resources of a country are utilized to their maximum

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full employment Cultural  

1. The condition that exists when all who want work can find jobs. Because some individuals will always be between jobs, full employment does not mean that one hundred percent of the workforce is employed. Rather, it is customarily defined as ninety-six percent of the total potential workforce.

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Example Sentences

He is right that the Fed has strayed well beyond its purview and should revert its focus to price stability and full employment.

From MarketWatch • May 8, 2026

The Fed, which needs to balance both price stability and full employment, is likely to signal it has enough leeway to maneuver either way.

From Barron's • Apr. 23, 2026

That is the federal-funds rate considered to be neither stimulative nor restrictive — what would prevail if the economy were at full employment but not overheated, with inflation stable.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 8, 2026

“Conveying that a zero-job-growth economy is consistent with full employment is not easy,” San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said in a blog post Friday.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

The other table displayed confections of various beautiful forms and kinds, interspersed with fruits and flowers; and where the younger people also seemed to find full employment.

From Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume II (of 2) A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day by Anonymous