The analysis demonstrates that linkages between unemployment and incarceration vary from State to State. Therefore, analyses using data for the United States as a whole hide more than they reveal and cannot be generalized to less inclusive levels of analysis. The study recommends that further analyses be more inclusive in their conceptualization of economic conditions and social control, and examine the operations of social control in more context-specific settings. Footnotes, data tables, and 43 references are provided. (Author abstract modified)