Minnesota’s minimum wage hike leads to significant job losses among young workers, study finds

Minnesota’s minimum wage has slowly crept up to $2.40 higher than the federal minimum wage over the last several years, and it’s proving to be a disaster for younger workers in the state, according to a new study.

Economics professor Noah Williams, director of the Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economics at the University of Wisconsin, crunched the numbers by comparing jobs and economic data in Minnesota since the state began increasing its minimum wage.

In 2010, the state raised its wage to keep up with the federal minimum wage and only continued to increase it from there. As of January, the state's minimum wage is $9.65.

This, in turn, has led to stagnant job growth compared to their neighbors in Wisconsin, Williams reported.

Williams said that employment growth rates in the fast-food sectors in Minnesota and Wisconsin began to diverge once Minnesota began tinkering with its minimum wage.

Before that, both states’ labor markets in which the minimum wage is most relevant (jobs for young, low-skilled workers) were similar.

Catch the clip above to see Pat Gray’s reaction to the findings and read more here.

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