Once out of school, he worked various odd jobs with long stretches of nonemployment or nonregistered employment in between.

Mr. Dimon said the bank would reduce employment mainly through attrition and would focus on reducing nonemployment expenses.

Even a meager knowledge of English may mean an opportunity to work in a factory versus nonemployment, or it may mean a question of life or death when a sharp command must be understood in order to avoid the danger of a descending crane.