HUGE BACKFIRE: Newsom’s $20 fast-food wage law costs California thousands of jobs, study finds

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From Fox Business: A new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) this month found that California’s 2023 minimum wage hike cost the state thousands of jobs.

Researchers found that the state’s $20 minimum wage fast food hike has cost the fast-food sector 18,000 jobs since it went into effect in April 2024, representing a 3.2% decline in that sector compared to fast-food sectors in other parts of the country.

“Our median estimate translates into a loss of 18,000 jobs in California’s fast-food sector relative to the counterfactual,” researchers Jeffrey Clemens, Olivia Edwards, and Jonathan Meer wrote in their paper.

The California assembly passed AB 1228 in Sept. 2023, which established the state’s “Fast Food Council” and its ability to set and adjust the sector’s minimum wage.

In April 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law which increased the minimum wage for fast food workers from $16 per hour to $20 per hour.

After the bill went into effect, “employment in the fast food sector in California fell substantially,” researchers reported.

Newsom defiantly claimed in late July 2024, “Don’t listen to the naysayers — fast food jobs are up across the state since we increased the minimum wage. Paying workers more is good for business, employees, and families.”

However, one year later, researchers are saying just the opposite actually happened.

READ MORE from Fox Business.

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