Before other states jump on the $15 minimum-wage bandwagon, they might want to look at what’s happening in Massachusetts — one of two states with a statewide $10-an-hour minimum.
The Bay State, which hiked its minimum wage from $8 to $9 at the start of 2015 and to $10 on the first day of 2016, is now mired in its longest stretch of net job losses since the recession in both the retail and the leisure and hospitality sectors, Labor Department data show.
Retail sector employment in February was down 2,200 from its post-recession peak of 354,100 in July, seasonally adjusted data show. In fact, retail employment is below its level in November 2014, before the first step of the state’s wage hike went into effect.
View Article