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.

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).

Decision made or course of action taken when faced with a set of alternatives.

Unemployment caused by fluctuations in the overall rate of economic activity or phase of the business cycle.

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 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.

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

Accommodation in houses, apartments, etc.

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 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 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.

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

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.

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

The type of unemployment resulting from people's present abilities, skills, training and location not matching up with available job openings that reflect the basic structure of the economy.

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.