Minimum wage hike killed jobs, BSU study says (Ball State)

[thundley4]

Many of us can thankfully say that we don't have to work for minimum wage. Those of us who do work for $7.25 an hour know that the increases in the national minimum wage phased in by Congress over the past few years help -- but only a little.

Working people would argue that raising the minimum wage was the right thing to do. But would business owners agree? Most of those that I've spoken to say that the increase in minimum wage was another blow to their company's bottom line.

Now a new study from Ball State University's Center for Business and Economic Research says that the minimum wage increase may have cost the country 550,000 jobs.

Ball State's study of part-time workers monitored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the wage increases prompted companies to cut back on hiring, said CBER director Michael Hicks.

"Instead of hiring a dozen teens to work a popular summer restaurant or theme park, a company would hire six or less," Hicks said. "Instead of filling positions that required no skills, companies were making do with what they had. In the long run, this hurt young, unskilled workers."

  Link

Well, Duh !!!! It happens every time the minimum wage is raised, and it takes several years for the trend to end. 

[JohnnyReb]

Send all the illegal aliens home...a shortage of labor will occur...jobs will come open...wages will go up for skilled labor and unskilled labor alike...but then with increased wages people will become independent and people that aren't dependent on the government can't be kept on the democrat farm ...so it ain't gonna happen.

[Eupher]

Raising the minimum wage raises unemployment? And it takes another bastian of liberalism like Ball State University to figure this out?

I remember learning that in Economics 101.

But this is interesting (from the BSU site):

Minimum wage increases before 2007 had a negligible impact on employment because few workers were employed at the minimum wage, Hicks said.

"But when the minimum wage for unskilled workers surpassed what companies were able to pay during the recession, employers started cutting back," he confined. "Instead of hiring a dozen teens to work a popular summer restaurant or theme park, a company would hire six or less. Instead of filling positions that required no skills, companies were making due with what they had. In the long run, this hurt young, unskilled workers."

What's the quote, Congress?

Oh yeah....

READY......FIRE......AIM.......

Oh shit.......

[NHSparky]

Another "color me shocked" liberalism failure moment.

[Texacon]

For the life of me I have never been able to figure out how congress could think raising the minimum wage was a good thing.  It is so elementary that if you raise the bottom you are going to lose jobs AND increase costs to the rest of the country. 

KC