There has been a lot of talk about the impact of minimum wage hikes on employment. Claims have been made in both directions. Those of you who have studied some basic economics likely believe raising the minimum wage will hurt employment.
Guess what? You're right! Investor's Business Daily has the data. It turns out that only three states have seen a downturn in retail employment in the last 15 months: ND, CT, and MA. North Dakota is experiencing a localized depression as fracking became infeasible with low oil prices.
Connecticut and Massachusetts are the first two states to raise minimum wages and, mirabile dictu, employment in retail went down in both. IBD also finds other indicators which say business climate in both states has been hurt.
I fully expect similar impacts in Seattle and CA which have followed suit. A likely result will be growth in the underground, off-the-books economy. Workers there have no protection whatsoever.
