Living Wage "Only" Results in 1% Rise In UnemploymentWell, this is
certainly welcome news.
They found an overall loss of 112 jobs, or about 1%, attributable to the law. They also found that employers made up the wage hikes, which amounted to more than 20% in some cases, in a variety of ways. They cut overtime and fringe benefits, hired more skilled, productive workers or passed on costs to the city. Lower employee turnover and absenteeism also helped offset the higher wage costs, making up 16% of the pay difference, the study said.Now, just imagine that Paul Krugman had evidence that the Bush tax cuts had resulted in a percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate, and also resulted in a loss of overtime, fringe benefits, and additional costs to the government. Do you think it would be presented as "only" a 1% increase in the unemployment rate?
Me neither.
