Institute of Economic Research,University of Wales Bangor,Gwynedd LL57 2DG,Wales

What we achieve and what we contribute are not independent of the level of demand for labour. Substantial labour reserves indicate that the labour market fails to discover a balance that reflects the needs and preferences of the population of working age. Different data sets—unemployment, vacancies, full-time equivalent jobs, and census data on forms of nonwork—are used to build a picture of the shift from tight to slack labour markets. The different sources confirm that unemployment becomes increasingly unreliable as a measure of labour reserve. The more difficult the labour market, the more likely it is that lack of opportunity takes the form of ‘sickness’ or government training rather than unemployment.