Many economists have reached similar conclusions about minimum wage increases in the past. Still, the size of the impacts the researchers measured — by comparing Minneapolis and St. Paul to data culled from other Minnesota cities from 2017 through 2021 — were eye-popping, especially in low-wage industries.
Take Minneapolis’ retail sector, for example: The minimum wage increase led to 28% fewer retail jobs than researchers would’ve expected from a similar city during the same five-year period. By this comparison, Minneapolis also saw a 20% drop in hours worked and a 13% dip in aggregate worker earnings.
Across St. Paul’s restaurant industry, the city’s 2018 minimum wage hike was responsible for drying up nearly one-third of available jobs, the study found. In “limited-service” (fast food) restaurants, both hours and earnings fell by more than half after the increase took effect.
(via Instapundit)
[This is such a well-known outcome of these policies that no one should be surprised at them by now. The insistence of pursuing such policies reflect the triumph of blind ideology over evidence and experience. And yet the only thing that the MinnPost says about the loss of 8,800 jobs in the Twin Cities is that it “could become the new fodder for groups that opposed” the minimum wage hikes. That’s a strange way to write “vindicate,” especially since those policies are irrevocable at this point. — Ed]
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