Why the Minimum Wage Hike in Los Angeles Could be More Damaging than Hikes in Other Cities

We have already seen how damaging the minimum wage has been in cities like San Francisco and Oakland, with some marginal books stores and restaurants closing.

Given the large population in Los Angeles working at the current minimum wage, the impaat could be much more significant.

Monica Potts has the details:

This week, the Los Angeles City Council voted to increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour, from the current $9, by 2020, joining the ranks of other liberal cities like Seattle and San Francisco who are acting despite federal inaction on the issue. But L.A. is the largest city to have raised the minimum wage so far, and the increase is much higher than the proposed federal hike to a little more than $10 from the current $7.25. Not only that, but as much as 50 percent of L.A.’s workforce may be affected, which is many more people than in any city that has raised its minimum wage so high to date.

 -RW