Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Minimum Wage & Unintended Consequences

From The Corner:

    Minimum Wage Minimizes Jobs [Jonah Goldberg]

    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.

Um, we told you so?

No comments: