We'll Find Out Soon If Higher Minimum Wages Kill Jobs

[Purveyor]

MAR 4, 2016 12:21 PM EST
By Barry Ritholtz

Today's jobs report confirms much of what we already know: Workers are finding employment at a steady but unspectacular rate, private-sector job creation is good but not great, hours worked are ever so slowly ticking up and wage increases are pretty much nonexistent.

This got me thinking about the push to increase minimum hourly wages and the demands for a $15 national floor. Although the national $15 minimum probably will go nowhere, given the opposition it faces, there's been lot of movement at the state and local levels as the table below indicates.

Minimum Wages Increases Adopted in 2015*
Emeryville, California $15 (by 2018)

Los Angeles $15 (by 2020)

Portland, Maine $10.68 (by 2017)

Kansas City, Missouri $13 (by 2020)

Birmingham, Alabama $10.10 (by 2017)

St. Louis $11 (by 2018)

Palo Alto, California $11 (by 2016)

Johnson County, Iowa $10.10 (by 2017)

Los Angeles County $15 (by 2020-21)

Mountain View, California $15 (by 2018)

Sacramento, California $12.50 (by 2020)

Lexington, Kentucky $10.10 (by 2018)

Tacoma, Washington $12 (by 2018)

Bangor, Maine $9.75 (by 2019)

Minimum Wage Increases Adopted in 2014

Las Cruces, New Mexico $10.10 (by 2019)

Santa Fe County, New Mexico $10.84

Sunnyvale, California $10.30

San Diego $11.50 (by 2017)

Oakland, California $12.25

Berkeley, California $12.53 (by 2016)

Richmond, California $13 (by 2018)

Louisville, Kentucky $9 (by 2017)

Chicago $13 (by 2019)

San Francisco $15 (by 2018)

Seattle $15 (by 2017-2021)

Sources: Bloomberg, U.S Labor Department
*New York adopted a $15 minimum for state and fast-food workers by 2021

As we can see, plenty of areas either already do or will soon pay a good deal more than the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Some municipalities and employers have adopted wage increases, often phased in over several years, because they believe it’s a matter of fairness or that social justice demands it. That's fine, as far as it goes. However, more and more businesses have a different perspective: a tightening job market is making it harder to attract and retain quality employees, so raising minimum pay is often simply a practical matter. Limiting costly employee turnover and keeping your best workers makes good business sense.

more...

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-03-04/we-ll-find-out-soon-if-minimum-wages-kill-jobs

[whathehell]

1. The Repubs have been running that line for decades..

Trust me...I'm a -60-something and I've been hearing it since I was a kid.

[Buzz cook]

2. My first internet debate back in 95 was about the minimum wage

What was true then is true now, an increase in the minimum wage doesn't hurt anyone, helps loads of people, and perks up the economy.

By now people against a minimum wage increase should need to meet a very high standard of proof.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Oregon and Washington Cities that have allready

increased their Minimum Wage are booming despite the false job killing reports.