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nonfarm

nonfarm

1 4.1
About jobs or businesses that are not in farming
  • adjective
  • /ˈnɒnˌfɑrm/
translation icon : no agrícola
  • In July 2012, Memphis's nonfarm payroll employment was 1.4 percent higher than a year earlier.
  • nonfarm and farm

Examples

  • According to the UNDP, China is addressing this problem by creating more nonfarm jobs in the nation's hinterlands.

  • Jobs in the mining sector rose 1.7 percent last year, while Wyoming's nonfarm employment increased 2.3 percent.

  • The income gap between farm and nonfarm families widened, for nonfarm income grew at a faster rate than farm income.

    Academic text (1991)
  • In economic news, the Labor Department said nonfarm productivity rose at an annually adjusted rate of 2.2% in the second quarter.

    Blog text (11)
  • According to the UNDP, China is addressing this problem by creating more nonfarm jobs in the nation's hinterlands.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Nowadays, cultivation of perennial cash crops and various forms of nonfarm employment are more important activities than shifting agriculture in many areas.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Although farms are smaller now than they were in the 1930s, labor is still in short supply because children and young people are at school (often to the age of 20), and, on average, one of the adults is engaged in a nonfarm activity.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The nation's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October remained relatively unchanged at 7.9 percent as the nation gained 171,000 jobs from nonfarm payroll employment, according to the monthly Employment Situation from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Blog text (30)
  • In July 2012, Memphis's nonfarm payroll employment was 1.4 percent higher than a year earlier.

Synonyms

nonagricultural
vsnonfarm
1 4.1

Not related to farming or growing crops

focuses on jobs, activities, or sectors rather than general absence of farming
nonagrarian
vsnonfarm
7.8

Work not about farming, like making things or offering services

focuses on jobs, activities, or sectors rather than general absence of farming

How Agricultural

agricultural
169 3.7
nonfarm
1 4.1

Surface Forms

nonfarm positive

Morphology

nonfarm = farm (transparent) = non + farm

The prefix 'non-' clearly negates the base word 'farm', indicating sectors not related to farming.

Etymology

Nonfarm is formed from non- ('not') and farm ('farm'), so it literally means 'not farm'. A helpful way to remember it is to think of jobs in offices, shops or factories instead of fields, which is why nonfarm describes work and industries that are not about farming.