Minimum Wage Could Reduce Job Growth
Posted at 1:45 p.m. on Feb. 20
Reihan Salam highlights research by Jonathan Meer and Jeremy West on the impact of minimum wage increases on “net job growth.”
From the report: “We find that the minimum wage signi cantly reduces gross hiring of new employees but that it has no e ffect on gross separations. While increases in the legal wage floor insignificantly aff ect the employment level, they directly reduce job growth.”
“Meer and West’s findings deserve to be part of the ongoing empirical discussion. That an increase in the statutory minimum wage won’t necessarily decrease employment levels is not terribly comforting news in light of the persistence of high unemployment, particularly if it is likely to reduce net job growth.”
