Other things equal, if a recession gets worse, the number of discouraged workers WILL INCREASE and the number of those in the labor force WILL DECREASE.
Discouraged workers are identified as those people who want a job but are not looking for one because they believe that there are no jobs available for them. Because they are not actively looking for jobs, they are not considered as part of the labor force. Thus, an increase in the number of discourage workers results to a decrease in the number of those in the labor force.
