<P> The 20th century British economist William Beveridge stated that an unemployment rate of 3 % was full employment . For the United States , economist William T. Dickens found that full - employment unemployment rate varied a lot over time but equaled about 5.5 percent of the civilian labor force during the 2000s . Recently , economists have emphasized the idea that full employment represents a `` range '' of possible unemployment rates . For example , in 1999 , in the United States , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) gives an estimate of the `` full - employment unemployment rate '' of 4 to 6.4 % . This is the estimated unemployment rate at full employment , plus & minus the standard error of the estimate . </P>
<P> The 20th century British economist William Beveridge stated that an unemployment rate of 3 % was full employment . For the United States , economist William T. Dickens found that full - employment unemployment rate varied a lot over time but equaled about 5.5 percent of the civilian labor force during the 2000s . Recently , economists have emphasized the idea that full employment represents a `` range '' of possible unemployment rates . For example , in 1999 , in the United States , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) gives an estimate of the `` full - employment unemployment rate '' of 4 to 6.4 % . This is the estimated unemployment rate at full employment , plus & minus the standard error of the estimate . </P>
full employment in the us economy means that
full employment in the us economy means that
4 to 6.4 %
4 to 6.4 %