According to an outfit called the Employment Policies Institute, increases to the federal minimum wage during the past three years resulted in more unemployed teens in Texas.
As the pay scale increased by 40 percent during the July 2007-July 2009 time period, employers, the study said, instituted more self-service initiatives — think self-checkout at a grocery store — and let go 6.9 percent of teens aged 16-19.
The unemployment rate within the same age group with fewer than 12 years of school — which seems a bit skewed since 16-year-olds couldn’t have had 12 years of school unless you factor in preschool, and learning to use the potty probably shouldn’t be included on a résumé — jumped to 14.1 percent.
In all, the study showed, 27,000 fewer Texas teens had jobs at the end of that three-year period than before the minimum rate hike kicked in. In the 32 states impacted by at least one stage of the wage increase, the study shows there were 114,400 fewer teens employed, so Texas accounts for nearly 25 percent of the nationwide job loss.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“Research shows that teens without job opportunities are at a higher risk of dropping out of high school or winding up in the criminal justice system,” said Michael Saltsman, research fellow at EPI. “If Congress wants to do our nations’ young adults a favor this summer, they could start by lowering the mandated wage they increased last year.”
Oh, political posturing. Statistics can be made to say most anything a group might want to say, right? Right.
Bruce Felps owns and operates East Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area. Yo, NBC, about that minimum wage …
Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
