Are We at Full Employment?

Are We at Full Employment?

Bella Dettlaff

We have reached Full Employment. As of 2018, the United States is arguably close to full employment for all citizens in America. When citizens and economists communicate on full employment, that doesn’t mean that you can cut unemployment to zero and that does not mean that everyone has a job. In that case, if unemployment falls too much then inflation will rise as employers will compete to hire workers and push up wages too fast. In other words, the real definition of full employment is that unemployment has fallen to the absolute lowest possible level that would not cause inflation. 

According to the The Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report, it showed that for nearly about a full year straight, the unemployment rate has remained under 5%. That’s praiseworthy. This is considering the interesting fact that unemployment rate has exceeded 10% during the grand height of the recession. Now, in the recent days, some are saying the constant streak of low unemployment says that the country has reached a big post-recession goal: full employment, which many economists will define as the point where everyone who wants a job has one. This is then essentially, how economists ask whether this is as good as it gets for labor markets. But is America really there yet? 

I believe that yes. Yes, the United States is currently at full employment. I believe that they should declare that we are in full employment or that we are at the optimal position. This is because there are economic consequences to calling it too early or too late but I believe that it is the correct time to call it. In theory it would occur when unemployment is as low as it could go. Like stated, the labor market is employing everyone, all citizens who wants to work, but the supply-and-demand dynamics have not yet shifted in a way that causes wages and prices to rise. As teengaers, it’s time to search for that after school, weekend job. This is because employers are willing and wanting to hire all who are willing to work and do their job. Us as teenagers and even citizens older than young adults should be searching for that job as employers will be willing to hire you. So although there has not been a full declaration of the full employment, the United states is there! Teenagers and all who want a job and are willing to work and do what has to be done, should. It’s the time. 

Works Cited

Crook, Clive. “Full Employment.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 10 Apr. 2015, www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/full-employment.

Leubsdorf, Ben. “Economists Think the U.S. Economy Is At or Near Full Employment.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 11 Jan. 2018, blogs.wsj.com/economics/2018/01/11/economists-think-the-u-s-economy-is-at-or-near-full-employment/.

White, Gillian B. “Full Employment: Are We There Yet?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 27 May 2017, www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/05/full-employment/528339/.