This article presents mortality from 1981 to 1989 for men and women in England and Wales of working ages by their economic activity at the 1981 Census. Both men and women in employment had lower overall mortality compared with that of all men, while those seeking work had higher mortality. The social class distribution of the unemployed did not explain all their excess deaths. The overall mortality of both employed and unemployed men relative to all men in the 1980s was lower than that of employed and unemployed men in the 1970s (1971-79) relative to all men in the 1970s.