STUDY: Minimum Wage Increase Cost Americans 1.4 Million Jobs. Low Skilled Workers And Youths Hardest Hit. (VIDEO)

By: Free Beacon -

Hikes in the minimum wage have other effects besides just giving low-income workers a raise. Important new research suggests that minimum wage increases in the late 2000s resulted in the loss of some 1.4 million American jobs and hurt unskilled workers most of all.

A new study by researchers Jeffrey Clemens and Michael Wither from the University of California San Diego found that low-skilled workers were the most adversely affected by minimum wage increases, despite the fact that this was the group that such legislation sought to help.

The study shows that between July 23, 2007 and July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage rose from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour. During this period, the employment-to-population ratio declined substantially—by 4 percentage points among adults aged 25 to 54, and by 8 percentage points among those aged 15 to 24.

Minimum Wage Maximum Unemployment
Study: Low-level workers put out by wage hikes

Minimum wage hikes hurt the people that politicians claim to help, according to a new study.

University of California at San Diego professors Jeffrey Clemens and Michael Wither found that the $7.25 minimum wage passed in 2007 contributed to job losses for entry level and low-skilled workers. The wages may have been high on paper, but the take home pay for workers fell during the first three years of the new wage.

“We find that binding minimum wage increases had significant, negative effects on the employment and income growth of targeted workers,” the study says.

Read more at