Why it’s possible to have too much employment in the U.S.

It’s impossible to have an economy with 0% unemployment, but it’s also difficult to maintain low unemployment without initiating painful inflation.

“It’s hard to tell Americans we can have too many people working,” David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution, told CNBC.

Since 1977, the Federal Reserve has focused on creating maximum employment and maintaining stable prices, commonly known as the dual mandate.

Yet, maximum employment is difficult to quantify.