Unemployed people have economic impact, obviously. They consume their savings, increase debt, or are a tax burden on others (or all of the above). If they consu

Unemployed people have economic impact, obviously. They consume their savings, increase debt, or are a tax burden on others (or all of the above). If they consume savings mainly, they may even show up as a positive influence on GDP. But it's not very sustainable, because for most people's savings are quite limited, and consuming them because they're forced to by circumstances is not really good for them.