What is Full Employment?
Full employment is a term used by economists to describe a situation where everyone who wants to work can find a job. It does not mean that there is zero unemployment, since some people may be temporarily out of work due to frictional factors, such as changing jobs, moving to a new location, or searching for better opportunities. However, it does mean that there is no cyclical unemployment, which is caused by a lack of aggregate demand in the economy.
Full employment is an important goal for any society, since it implies that the economy is operating at its potential output and that the resources are being used efficiently. Full employment also has positive effects on the well-being of the population, such as higher incomes, lower poverty, better health, and more social cohesion.
However, full employment is not easy to achieve or maintain. There are many factors that can affect the level of employment in an economy, such as technological changes, demographic shifts, trade policies, fiscal and monetary policies, and external shocks. Moreover, there is no consensus on how to measure full employment or what constitutes the natural rate of unemployment. Different methods and assumptions can lead to different estimates of the full employment level.
Therefore, full employment is not a fixed target, but a dynamic and evolving concept that depends on the context and circumstances of each economy. Policymakers should aim to create the conditions that foster job creation and reduce unemployment, while also taking into account the possible trade-offs and side effects of their actions.