A $15 MINIMUM WAGE WOULD COST 1.3 MILLION JOBS

Key Points:

  • The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found in a 2019 study that raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 could cost 1.3 million Americans their jobs.
  • The leisure and hospitality industry comprised 37.3% of all federal minimum wage workers in 2019, 22.8% from retail, and 14.1% from education and health industry.
  • Economists are concerned that a $15 minimum wage will impact low-wage industries already suffering due to COVID-19.
  • As of January, leisure and hospitality accounts for 18.0% of the entire unemployed workforce, retail accounts for 12.6%, and education and health accounts for 12.6%.
  • The Right Facts will continue to monitor the federal minimum wage.
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