Highest Minimum-Wage State Washington Beats U.S. Job Growth
Awesome article I read this morning on the benefits of a minimum wage. Is it possible that raising the minimum wage also raises the velocity of spending? I'm sure my old college econ professor would disagree with the premise and call me girl's names, but it's an interesting idea for a study.
Waytogo Bloomberg.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-05/washington-shows-highest-minimum-wage-state-beats-u-s-with-jobs.html
When Washington residents voted in 1998 to raise the states minimum wage and link it to the cost of living, opponents warned the measure would be a job-killer. The prediction hasnt been borne out.
In the 15 years that followed, the states minimum wage climbed to $9.32 -- the highest in the country. Meanwhile job growth continued at an average 0.8 percent annual pace, 0.3 percentage point above the national rate. Payrolls at Washingtons restaurants and bars, portrayed as particularly vulnerable to higher wage costs, expanded by 21 percent. Poverty has trailed the U.S. level for at least seven years.
The debate is replaying on a national scale as Democrats led by President Barack Obama push for an increase in the $7.25-an-hour federal minimum, while opponents argue a raise would hurt those its intended to help by axing jobs for the lowest-skilled. Even if that proves true, Washingtons example shows that any such effects arent big enough to throw its economy and labor market off the tracks.