Your spouse can never be YOUR dependent, but you can always file jointly with your spouse even if they are unemployed. If you are saying that your spouse is being claimed by someone else as their dependent, then you can still file jointly. However, whoever is claiming them as a dependent will not be able to claim them if you are filing jointly.
One of the rules to claiming a dependent is that the dependent cannot be filing a joint return unless it is only to claim a refund of taxes withheld and nothing else. For a further discussion of the dependency rules, you can see more information at these links Rules for Claiming a Dependent on Your Tax Return and IRS Publication 501 (starts at page 11).