Skip to main content

Minimum Wage Hike Report Puts Dems on Defense

CBN

Share This article

President Barack Obama's push to increase the minimum wage could cost the country about nearly 500,000 jobs by 2016, according to the latest Congressional Budget Office report.

The CBO is a non-partisan congressional body, but it's study has Democrats on the defensive.

Chairman of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers Jason Furman disputed that figure, pointing to recent academic studies in a blog post on The Hill.

Will raising the minimum wage really kill jobs? Terry Jeffrey, editor of CNSNews.com, answers this and more on CBN Newswatch, Feb. 20.

"Increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum-wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor market," he said.

"There's some respectful disagreement on the emphasis and certainty around that magnitude of employment loss," Furman also told reporters.

The Democratic Party has been pushing for a gradual increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2016.

Republicans have long opposed the minimum wage boost, calling it a job killer.

"(The report) shows that raising the minimum wage could destroy as many as 1 million jobs, a devastating blow to the very people that need help most in this economy," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

Share This article