Why is full employment important to the economy?

Full employment is not good for the economy as it may result in an inflationary period where workers have more disposable income and as a result would drive prices upwards. This would take a while to happen though. Also, a lot of central banks base their policies around controlling inflation (The ECB). I guess an increase in price levels of around 2-3% is acceptable these days. However in today's current economic climate, governments especially in the U.S and Europe would do anything for full employment!