Would have thought being employed was a good thing, lying on the other hand a bad thing.
If I was hiring someone, would prefer they were employed doing something, it shows a good work ethic, unless they had just turned up to town in the last few days.
Also if they said they can't start for two weeks because they want to give notice to their current employer, I would like that because it shows respect and courtesy and hopefully they would do the same when they were leaving our company.