Several states and cities took on new minimum wage hikes in 2015 and the beginning of 2016. Now a new report out shows it is affecting hiring in restaurants, hotels and other leisure and hospitality venues. More from Investor’s Business Daily:
The strongest evidence comes from the nation’s capital, where leisure and hospitality employment, which rose at least 3% annually over the prior four years, fell an average of 1% from a year ago in the three months through November.
The timing coincides with the $1 minimum-wage hike to $10.50 an hour last July. That jump followed a boost from $8.25 to $9.50 an hour that took effect in mid-2014. Another jump to $11.50 is set for this July.
Job gains in the Chicago-area leisure and hospitality sector slumped to a five-year low after the Windy City’s $1.75-an-hour minimum-wage hike to $10 an hour took effect in July, Labor Department data show. Annual employment gains at restaurants, hotels and other leisure-sector venues averaged just 1.1% from September through November, about half the pace seen in 2014 and the weakest since the summer of 2010.
Bay Area job growth in the leisure and hospitality sector slumped to a five-year low after San Francisco and Oakland adopted the highest citywide minimum wage in the country of $12.25 an hour last spring.
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