Glossary Terms:

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).

A written order to a financial institution directing the financial institution to pay a stated amount of money, as instructed, from the customer's account.

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 opportunity to borrow money or to receive goods or services in return for a promise to pay later.

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.

The allocation or dividing up of the goods and services a society produces.

Goods intended to last for a period of more than three years.

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

Unemployment caused by the short-term movement of people between jobs and by first-time job seekers entering the labor force; always present in a dynamic economy.

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.

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

Payments made by individuals and corporations to the federal government (and to some state and local governments) based on income received (both earned and unearned).

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.

People and firms that use resources to make goods and services.

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

Natural resources, human resources, capital resources and entrepreneurship used to make goods and services.

Property such as land, houses and office buildings.

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 level of subsistence of a nation, social class or individual with reference to the adequacy of necessities and comforts of daily life.

The amount of a good or service that producers are willing and able to offer for sale at each possible price during a given period of time.

Compulsory payments to governments by households and businesses.

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

Money collected by the government from one group and given to others. Examples include Social Security benefits, unemployment insurance payments and agricultural subsidies.

Their are varying types and degrees of unemployment. Cyclical unemployment occurs with downturns in the economy and evaporates when the economy rebounds. Frictional unemployment details people who are unemployed while transitioning between jobs. Structural unemployment deals with an offset of skilled workers and available jobs. Seasonal unemployment is another situation in which skilled workers are mismatched with the number of jobs. Hidden unemployment the unemployment of potential workers, which is not reflected in official statistics. Hardcore unemployment describes persons who may be unemployable due to physical or mental incapacitation.

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.