Economic theory suggests that as unemployment rates increase, the expected returns to job search decrease, and the relative expected returns to crime increase. Similarly, higher expected wages should make legitimate employment more attractive than criminal activity. It was also hypothesized that the threat of loss of emotional attachment bonds to important people and the loss of chances of obtaining conventionally valued goals would lower crime. Finally, it was hypothesized that illegal activity would negatively affect subsequent employment. Path analysis was used on a sample of white males and females out of school (1980). For males, no relationship was found between the amount of wages received and illegal behavior, nor was there a link between crime and work commitment or intention to be working in 5 years. On the other hand, crime was associated with reduced labor force activity in the following year, although the relationship between crime and employment appeared to vary by type of offense and by the measure of labor market participation. The findings imply that males who engage in violent crime have greater difficulty in keeping a job, while those who commit property crime may be involved in different lifestyles, with more time spent outside the conventional labor force. Findings for females showed no link between the economic and control variables and illegal activities, nor was involvement in crime predictive of later labor force participation for young women. An appendix discusses measures of crime. Tabular data and 19 references are provided.