Glossary Terms:

Monetary or non-monetary gain received because of an action taken or a decision made.

Any activity or organization that produces or exchanges goods or services for a profit.

Fluctuations in the overall rate of national economic activity with alternating periods of expansion and contraction; these vary in duration and degrees of severity; usually measured by real gross domestic product (GDP).

People who use goods and services to satisfy their personal needs and not for resale or in the production of other goods and services.

An amount that must be paid or spent to buy or obtain something. The effort, loss or sacrifice necessary to achieve or obtain something.

The quantity of a good or service that buyers are willing and able to buy at all possible prices during a period of time.

Unemployed people who have given up looking for work and are therefore not counted as part of the labor force.

A factor, often a monetary policy or disadvantage, that discourages people from doing something.

Economic units that demand productive resources from households and supply goods and services to households and government agencies.

The natural rate of employment; generally considered to be about 93-95 percent of the labor force, allowing for frictional unemployment of 5-7 percent.

Tangible objects that satisfy economic wants.

The market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a calendar year.

Individuals and family units that buy goods and services (as consumers) and sell or rent productive resources (as resource owners).

Payments earned by households for selling or renting their productive resources. May include salaries, wages, interest and dividends.

A rise in the general or average price level of all the goods and services produced in an economy. Can be caused by pressure from the demand side of the market (demand-pull inflation) or pressure from the supply side of the market (cost-push inflation).

A practice or arrangement whereby a company provides a guarantee of compensation for specified forms of loss, damage, injury or death. People obtain such guarantees by buying insurance policies, for which they pay premiums. The process allows for the spreading out of risk over a pool of insurance policyholders, with the expectation that only a few policholders will actually experience losses for which claims must be made. Types of insurance include automobile, health, renter's, homeowner's, disability and life.

A piece of work usually done on order at an agreed-upon rate. Also a paid position of regular employment.

The quantity and quality of human effort available to produce goods and services.

The people in a nation who are aged 16 or over and are employed or actively looking for work.

The amount of money that people pay when they buy a good or service; the amount they receive when they sell a good or service.

The weighted average of the prices of all goods and services in an economy; used to calculate inflation.

A good or service that can be used to satisfy a want.

A process of manufacturing, growing, designing, or otherwise using productive resources to create goods or services used to to satisfy a want.

The amount of output (goods and services) produced per unit of input (productive resources) used.

A decline in the rate of national economic activity, usually measured by a decline in real GDP for at least two consecutive quarters (i.e., six months).

Activities performed by people, firms or government agencies to satisfy economic wants.

The exchange of goods and services for money or other goods and services.

The number of people without jobs who are actively seeking work.

The number of unemployed people, expressed as a percentage of the labor force.

Effort applied to achieve a purpose or result, often for pay; skills and knowledge put to use to get something done; employment at a job or in a position; occupation, profession, business, trade, craft, etc.

People employed to do work, producing goods and services.