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.

Resources and goods made and used to produce other goods and services. Examples include buildings, machinery, tools and equipment. In the context of credit transactions, capital is one of the Three Cs of Credit. It is an indicator of how creditworthy a prospective borrower is likely to be as determined by the borrower's current financial assets and net worth.

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

Spending by households on goods and services. The process of buying and using 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 amount of money a person has left to save or spend after income taxes, Social Security taxes and other required deductions have been taken out of his or her pay.

The study of how people, firms and societies choose to allocate scarce resources with alternative uses.

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.

Spending by all levels of government on goods and services; includes categories like military, schools and roads.

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 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).

The purchase of capital goods (including machinery, technology or new buildings) that are used to produce goods and services. In personal finance, the amount of money invested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other investment instruments.

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.

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.

Anything that is generally accepted as final payment for goods and services; serves as a medium of exchange, a store of value and a standard of value. Characteristics of money are portability, stability in value, uniformity, durability and acceptance.

The fee paid for insurance protection.

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.

An original amount of money invested or lent.

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.

Income received for entrepreneurial skills and risk taking, calculated by subtracting all of a firm's explicit and implicit costs from its total revenues.

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.

Earnings from an investment, usually expressed as an annual percentage.

A regular payment, often at monthly or biweekly intervals, made by an employer to an employee, especially in the case of professional or white-collar employees. Salaries are paid for services rendered and are not based on hours worked.

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

Use money now to buy goods and services.

Compulsory payments to governments by households and businesses.

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

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.

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.