# Start Here > Guest Forum >  Study: States that raised minimum wage had stronger job growth

## Boshembechle

> A recent study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research  attempts to undercut the argument that raising the minimum wage kills  jobs.
> 
>  The study, which updates a Goldman Sachs analysis to include data  from April and May, shows that the 13 states that increased their  minimum wages on Jan. 1 have had stronger employment growth than the 37  states that didnt. The study compared average employment during the  first five months of 2014 with the last five months of 2013.
>  The average change in payrolls in the 13 states that increased their  minimum wages was 0.99% vs. 0.68% in the other states.  On January 1,  Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island boosted their pay  floors as a result of legislation. The other nine states  Arizona,  Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and  Washington  automatically raised their minimums by smaller amounts  based on inflation.
>  CEPR acknowledges this analysis is far from scientific and draws no  direct link between raising the minimum wage and payroll gains. Still,  it does provide evidence against theoretical negative employment  effects of minimum wage increases, CEPR researcher Ben Wolcott writes.
>  Critics of minimum wage increases argue they raise business costs, forcing employers to lay off workers or hire fewer people.
>  But CEPR senior economist John Schmitt says one reason minimum pay  hikes actually could bolster employment growth is that they help  businesses fill openings more quickly.  Big employers of low-wage  workers, such as fast food chains, virtually always have job vacancies,  he says.
>  Another reason, he says, is that low-wage workers tend to spend  nearly all their extra cash, lifting the local economy and creating more  jobs.


http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/...er-job-growth/

but but but my econ 101 textbook says Minimum wage is the devil's law!!!

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## dannno

> a Goldman Sachs analysis


I trust them.

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## dannno

> But CEPR senior economist John Schmitt says one reason minimum pay hikes actually could bolster employment growth is that they help businesses fill openings more quickly. Big employers of low-wage workers, such as fast food chains, virtually always have job vacancies, he says.


There are vacancies for these low paying jobs because they can make about the same money on welfare and have more free time. Derp.

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## tod evans

> A recent study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research



A government funded study concludes that more government makes for a better society.....



Whodda thunk?

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## Boshembechle

it's not government funded

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## Guitarzan

The study compares a total of 10 months. 

There are so many factors that can attribute to what an economy does in the short term. I would think that one would need to compare a much longer time sample in order to see any kind of true consequence.

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## ItsTime

Forgot a part:




> CEPR acknowledges this analysis is far from scientific and draws no direct link between raising the minimum wage and payroll gains.

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## Boshembechle

It doesn't acknowledge that MW RESULTS in employment, it merely improves that MW DOES NOT cause unemployment.

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## presence

> it's not government funded


*Our Funders*




American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)National Association of Letter CarriersNational Education AssociationPublic Welfare FoundationService Employees International Union (2nd Largest Public Workers Union)



> The study compares a total of 10 months. 
> 
> There are so many factors that can attribute to what an economy does in  the short term. I would think that one would need to compare a much  longer time sample in order to see any kind of true consequence.


Yes... but doing it this way makes for great cherry picked headlines.

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## acptulsa

When was the last time a community which already had higher than average unemployment raised its minimum wage?  I don't seem to recall that ever happening.

Raising the one size fits all federal minimum wage is bound to be disastrous for certain communities.  'Course progressives are never too compassionate to break a few eggs while preparing their omelet of utopia.

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## Bman

> It doesn't acknowledge that MW RESULTS in employment, it merely improves that MW DOES NOT cause unemployment.


How so?  Do you have a comparison with exact circumstances less raising the minimum wage?  Do you have a machine that lets you go to an alternate universe whose time line only separated from ours at the time of the minimum wage increase?  Was that also the only factor that changed what so ever?

Some insight plz.  I'm very curious.

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## otherone

> It doesn't acknowledge that MW RESULTS in employment, it merely improves that MW DOES NOT cause unemployment.


....so, if I'm to understand correctly, raising the minimum wage to $100/hour will mean 0% unemployment!
Problem SOLVED, America!

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## acptulsa

> ....so, if I'm to understand correctly, raising the minimum wage to $100/hour will mean 0% unemployment!
> Problem SOLVED, America!


Outstanding!  How did we miss something so simple?  And while it will turn our mass inflation into hyperinflation, at least the megabanks that own the Fed will have an excuse for printing themselves up a fat batch of money that even a non-idiot can believe.  And wages will get ahead of inflation for the first time in a hundred years, if only briefly.

That's the most brilliant short term solution to our long term problems yet!

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## Ronin Truth

Hmmmmm. I wasn't aware that Texas had raised their min wage.  Oh wait, they haven't. (I really hate lying bull$#@! studys.)

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## juleswin

> ....so, if I'm to understand correctly, raising the minimum wage to $100/hour will mean 0% unemployment!
> Problem SOLVED, America!


Dont be unreasonable, they know there is a point raising the minimum wage would harm the economy and they have picked $15  and they wont tell you how they arrived at it. Take their word for it but $15 is the magical point where small businesses will thrive, unskilled workers raised out of poverty and the economy experiences growth greater than pre minimum wage raise. Nothing spectacular but they have calculated it all and it will work. 

Its not like we all didn't know that labor is the only commodity where artificially raising the price above market price will not cause a decrease in demand for it.

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## Acala

The law of supply and demand does not apply to commodities that can vote.

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## Acala

> A government funded study concludes that more government makes for a better society.....
> 
> 
> 
> Whodda thunk?


I read a government study that said that people who don't trust government studies tend to be terrorists.

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## tod evans

> I read a government study that said that people who don't trust government studies tend to be terrorists.


Well I do sport a beard..........

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## ctiger2

STUDY vs REALITY

CBO Confirms Obama's Minimum Wage Proposal Is a Job-Killer

Washington business owner David Jones planned to open an additional location of Blazing Onion Burger in Seattle, but now he's going to wait to see how the new law plays out.

"I would love to come to Seattle, but I have to do it responsibly and wait until I have more information," Jones said. 

“Contrary to what supporters claim, increasing the minimum wage does not create jobs and stimulate the economy,” wrote Erin Shannon, the center’s small business analyst. “The higher wages are not free money. 

If a mandatory $15 an hour wage would kick in we would have to raise prices accordingly, most likely cut our work force, and  trim hours of operation, making it even more difficult to be profitable, maybe even close our business.

A pizza franchise with 11 locations, six of which are in Seattle, that employs 430 workers has tabled plans to open another location, in Lynnwood, Washington, over concerns the new location and its new jobs would bump the company into the “big business” category. “I think you’ll see a lot of restaurants closing. I don’t think that restaurants can operate profitably if they’re paying a $15-an-hour minimum wage,” Puzder said on Fox News.

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## juleswin

What You Weren't Told About The Minimum Wage

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## Keith and stuff

Unions tie pay increases for themselves to increases in the min. wage. Unions pay for study that shows maybe, if people cross their fingers and close one eye, that states with increasing min. wages might do slightly better in one area for 10 months than states that don't...

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## Acala

> Unions tie pay increases for themselves to increases in the min. wage. Unions pay for study that shows maybe, if people cross their fingers and close one eye, that states with increasing min. wages might do slightly better in one area for 10 months than states that don't...


A higher minimum wage also makes it easier for unions to get their own pay raises because it makes the competition less attractive.

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## Acala

> Well I do sport a beard..........


Just a turban away from jihad, Mister.  Or should I say Shiek?

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## tod evans

> Just a turban away from jihad, Mister.  Or should I say Shiek?


Call me Abdul....

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## NorthCarolinaLiberty

> Do you have a machine that lets you go to an alternate universe


The machine is called the good ship lollipop.  It makes regular runs between the dorm and college.

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## oyarde

> http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/...er-job-growth/
> 
> but but but my econ 101 textbook says Minimum wage is the devil's law!!!


Well , from what I have seen you should know the " devil " intimately , I would move your posts to the religion forum where you could by digested by those who are aware of the  8th Commandment , Thou shall not steal , and the 10th , Thou shall not covet ....... I myself , a simple man have no idea why they are not the first two  , because they lead to  #'s 1 , 6 , 7 & 9. At the very least you should be moved to Hot Topics. Where more enlightened would not need to view such.

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## Vanguard101

OP is providing Goldman Sachs as a source.

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## 56ktarget

You cant expect these people to listen to facts. They value ideology more.

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## Czolgosz

These $#@!ing religous freaks.

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## angelatc

> http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/...er-job-growth/
> 
> but but but my econ 101 textbook says Minimum wage is the devil's law!!!


This study didn't study any long term effects of minimum wage. If it did, it would have pointed out that those same states started out with bigger populations as well as higher unempoyment rates.

It makes sense that states with higher rates of population and unemployment would see faster declines in unemployment.  

People like you should go start businesses instead of trying to force other people to run theirs. Then maybe you'd get a clue.

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## angelatc

> It doesn't acknowledge that MW RESULTS in employment, it merely improves that MW DOES NOT cause unemployment.


*Then your title is a lie:

"States that raised minimum wage had stronger job growth"*

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## angelatc

> You cant expect these people to listen to facts. They value ideology more.


Well, maybe if you actually HAD any facts....

But the fact is that states with higher minimum wages have higher unemployment rates.  You can fact check that easily enough - it isn't rocket science.  First get a list of all 50 states.  Then pick any point in time.  Or even better - pick several points in time.  

Then find out what their rates of unemployment were during those time periods you selected.  Of course there are always outliers, but the vast majority of cases the higher the minimum wage, the higher the rate of unemployment, even when the economy is booming.  

You want to know why that is?  It is because the higher the pay to the employee, the less value to the employer there is.  

Here's a study: http://americanactionforum.org/resea...eation-in-2013  You really should read it, ut of course you won't.  But it found a lot of interesting things, like how increasing the minimum wage by only $1 meant a 1.48% increase in unemployment. That same $1.00 also led to a 0.18% decline the job growth rate.  Therefore, that higher minimum wage led to the unemployment of almost 750,000 people. 83,000 jobs were lost. 

But this is what liberals want, and you know why?  It is because the jobs that are most likely to be affected are jobs for young people and minorities.  Liberals want those demographics to be dependent on welfare and socialism, and the minimum wage is their tool for doing it. 

Fighting them with facts is pointless, because they're not interested in anything except control.

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## DamianTV

Minimum Wage doesnt mean Job Growth.  Typically, Job Growth is an interpretation of the Unemployment Rate going down.  Unemployment going down can go down for a couple of reasons.  Either people actually get jobs (which is what we want), or more people are excluded from the calculations because they are no longer considered part of the Work Force.  Media puts heavy spin so that we interpret any drop in Unemployment as Job Growth without any actual Jobs being created.  Not entirely accurate, but also not entirely inaccurate either.  Our economy is still in the gutter.

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## really

The fact is that I have no idea if a higher minimum wagewill kill jobs.

Consider this. In Texas the minimum wage is $7.25/hour. Assuming that a workerworks 200 hours per month (a bit over 40/week) his before tax pay is $1,450 permonth ($17,400/year). Lets assume he has two full time jobs or can otherwisework 400 hours per month (over 80 hours/week). That is $34,800 per year working over 80 hours/week.

In Texas, most families of three or more will be below the poverty line eventhough they are working full time and then some.
These people are eligible for food stamps and other public assistance.  The effectis to subsidize their employers who would otherwise need to pay a higher wage.

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