Unused labour which does not appear as open unemployment. Firms hoard labour for which they have no use, because sacking workers is illegal or too politically risky, or because they are subsidized to do so. Family firms and peasant agriculture keep unproductive relations on the payroll. During recessions many of the self-employed are also largely idle (self-unemployed?). It can be argued that many of those on training schemes of various sorts are really also disguised unemployed.

• logistic curve
• log-linear function
• log-normal distribution
• log-rolling
• Lomé Convention
• London Inter Bank Offered Rate
• London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange
• long-dated security
• long position
• long rate
• long run
• long-run average cost
• long-run marginal cost
• long-run Phillips curve
• long-term interest rate
• long-term unemployment
• Lorenz curve
• loss
• loss leader
• Louvre Accord
• loyalty, brand
• Ltd
• Lucas critique
• lumpiness
• lump of labour