If they're actively looking for work, then they're unemployed. If they're not looking for work because they assume there are no opportunities, they're "discoura

If they're actively looking for work, then they're unemployed. If they're not looking for work because they assume there are no opportunities, they're "discouraged workers": https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/discouraged_worker.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/discouraged_worker.asp. Discouraged workers aren't counted in the primary unemployment rate, but are counted in U4 and U6, which are also historically low; see https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/U4RATE https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/U4RATE and https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/U6RATE https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/U6RATE.