Glossary · Macro · Unemployment

Natural rate of unemployment

The unemployment rate when the economy is at full employment: frictional plus structural, with no cyclical unemployment. It is not zero, and it is where the long-run Phillips curve stands. Economists also call it the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment, or NAIRU.

Also called: NAIRU, full employment

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Related terms

Frictional unemploymentStructural unemploymentLong-run Phillips curve (LRPC)Potential output

More from unemployment

Cyclical unemploymentDiscouraged workersLabor forceLabor-force participation rateOkun's lawUnemployment rate

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