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

Warsh is preparing to step into the most important economic policy job in the world at a time when the Fed’s dual mandate—to promote full employment and price stability—looks increasingly difficult to achieve.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026

By the end of 2024, gross domestic product was growing at a 2.5% annualized rate, the labor market was at full employment, and inflation appeared to be approaching the Fed’s 2% annual target.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 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

I understand that there are now eighteen steamboats plying on the lake, all finding full employment; and that a boat leaves Buffalo twice every day for Detroit and the ports in Ohio.

From The Works of Daniel Webster, Volume 1 by Webster, Daniel