Also on Thursday, the state’s lowest-paid workers got a raise – to $6.50 an hour, the second of a two-step increase in the state’s minimum wage. Critics say raising the wage floor lowers the number of jobs available to low-income people – an argument that makes sense in theory but fails to hold up in practice. Sure, individual firms may find themselves forced to cut jobs. But the trend overall is that the number of jobs expands after the floor is lifted. The Center on Wisconsin Strategy of the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the latest to document this phenomenon.
Office of Strategic Communication