Glossary Terms:

One of many choices or courses of action that might be taken in a given situation.

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

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.

An increase in real output as measured by real GDP or per capita real GDP.

The percentage of the total population aged 16 or over that is employed.

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.

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 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 labor supply and labor demand curves. The intersection of the labor supply and labor demand curves determines the equilibrium wage and the quantity of hours people work at this equilibrium wage.

Places, institutions or technological arrangements where or by means of which goods or services are exchanged. Also, the set of all sale and purchase transactions that affect the price of some good or service.

A job or profession; also a category of work, sometimes identified by the degree of skill required.

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.

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.

The amount of goods and services that a monetary unit of income can buy.

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).

The basic kinds of resources used to produce goods and services: land or natural resources, human resources (including labor and entrepreneurship), and capital.

The chance of losing money.

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.

Payments for labor services that are directly tied to time worked, or to the number of units of output produced.

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.