A term that is used in many senses. Historically, it was taken to be that level of employment at which no (or minimal) involuntary unemployment exists. Today economists rely upon the concept of the natural rate of unemployment to indicate the highest sustainable level of employment over the long run.
In modern economies, the lowest level of unemployment that does not bring about an unacceptably high level of inflation. Currently in the United States, "full employment" has between five and six per cent of the work force officially listed as unemployed.
refers to when an economy operates at an unemployment rate equal to the sum of frictional and structural unemployment rates
Full employment is a situation in which the quantity of labor demanded equals the quantity supplied. At full employment, the unemployment rate equals the natural rate of unemployment and all unemployment is frictional and structural.
In economics, full employment has more than one meaning. To most lay-people, it means zero unemployment. The majority of economists believe the unemployment rate is greater than 0% when there is full employment.