From Brit Hume’s "grapevine " last night:
The minimum wage increase that took effect in Arizona last month has brought with it some unintended consequences — many teenagers are losing their jobs. The Arizona Republic reports some employers say payroll budgets have risen so much since the minimum wage went from $5.15 per hour to $6.75 — they have had to cut jobs and hours.
The owner of one Phoenix pizza restaurant says his payroll has shot up 13 percent and he’s had to lay off three teenagers and cut hours for others. Another shop owner said expenses rose by $2,000 a month.
A Federal Reserve study showed that for every ten percent increase in the minimum wage — there is a corresponding two to three percent decrease in employment.
[Via Veritas]
Well Democrats support a minimum wage and I guess zero is a minimum wage – just about as minimum as you can get.
4 comments
But it gets worse! In a couple years (exactly 2 in our case), the cost of renting an apartment will go up as landlords key into the increased wages.
Ick. For once I am happy to live in California, where our State mandated minimum wage is $6.75, and is about to be raised to $7.25.
When I first moved out I was barely making ends meet while renting a single room and making $7.50 an hour in retail.
I doubt whether politicians remember what that’s like, or just how much food and rent costs these days. And I was using the bus rather than paying for a car and gas.
This issue is beyond simple politics.
I hear a little voice in the back of my head saying, “Of course, American businesses won’t hire illegal aliens and underpay them and threaten deportation if they complain about it.”
The last time they raised the min. wage the price of bread, for one thing, doubled! Even as a Democrat, I don’t think raising the wage is the answer.