Many people are unemployed during economic downturns.

unemployed 是形容词，由前缀 un-（表示"不、非"）和 employed（"被雇佣的"）组成。employed 来自动词 employ（雇佣）的过去分词形式。 unemployed 字面意思是"没有被雇佣的"，即"失业的"。