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Following Minimum Wage Increases, Unemployment Spikes among Black Male Teens


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2016 Jul 11, 12:34pm   2,176 views  20 comments

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Perhaps one of the more interesting data points from last week's Employment Report is displayed in the graph above, which shows that the jobless rate for black male teens (aged 16-19 years) increased to 40.1% in June from 28.1% in May. Except for a slightly higher increase of 12.2 percentage points during the aftermath of the Great Recession, the 12 percentage point increase in June was the highest monthly increase in history going back to 1972 when the BLS starting keeping records for this series. One possible explanation for this spike would be the “midyear burst of minimum-wage increases on July 1” outlined in a recent WSJ article:

On July 1, 14 U.S. cities, states and counties, plus the District of Columbia, will raise their minimum wage in a mid-year burst that reflects the legislative momentum to boost pay floors across the country while federal legislation stalls. In total, the minimum wage will rise in 15 places: two states – Maryland and Oregon, plus Washington, D.C., Los Angeles County, Calif., and 11 cities. That includes Chicago, eight cities in California and two in Kentucky, according to a new analysis by the right-leaning Employment Policies Institute.

As we learned from Milton Friedman many years ago:

The minimum wage law is most properly described as a law saying that employers must discriminate against people who have low skills. That’s what the law says. The law says that here’s a man who has a skill that would justify a wage of $5 or $6 per hour (adjusted for today), but you may not employ him, it’s illegal, because if you employ him you must pay him $7.25 per hour. So what’s the result? To employ him at $7.25 per hour is to engage in charity. There’s nothing wrong with charity. But most employers are not in the position to engage in that kind of charity. Thus, the consequences of minimum wage laws have been almost wholly bad. We have increased unemployment and increased poverty.

Moreover, the effects have been concentrated on the groups that the do-gooders would most like to help. The people who have been hurt most by the minimum wage laws are the blacks. I have often said that the most anti-black law on the books of this land is the minimum wage law.

https://fee.org/articles/following-minimum-wage-increases-unemployment-spikes-among-black-male-teens/

Comments 1 - 20 of 20        Search these comments

1   indigenous   2016 Jul 11, 12:35pm  

And this is at the root of black unrest.

2   HydroCabron   2016 Jul 11, 12:45pm  

Are you sure this isn't due more to recent FOMC decisions?

3   indigenous   2016 Jul 11, 12:55pm  

HydroCabron says

Are you sure this isn't due more to recent FOMC decisions?

The FOMC has decided to do nothing. Your sarcasm is getting a little stale.

4   HEY YOU   2016 Jul 11, 1:23pm  

HydroCabron,
indigenous says:
"Your sarcasm is getting a little stale."

And your proper responses should be,
1.-"You can't handle the truth."
2.-Republicans don't need jobs they are on the govt.dole.
3.-Why haven't Rep/Con/Teas stopped all the big Govt. Bureaucracy.

I am going to start charging for trolling secrets.
I'm saving the good ones for myself.

5   HydroCabron   2016 Jul 11, 1:52pm  

indigenous says

Are you sure this isn't due more to recent FOMC decisions?

The FOMC has decided to do nothing. Your sarcasm is getting a little stale.

You have blamed the precession of the equinoxes on Keynesians and the Fed since the late Permian period. Stale.

I am still laughing about that time you called Obama an "ideologue".

So: What facts did you bend to your crude mechanical libertarianism today?

6   Strategist   2016 Jul 11, 2:44pm  

indigenous says

As we learned from Milton Friedman many years ago:

The minimum wage law is most properly described as a law saying that employers must discriminate against people who have low skills. That’s what the law says. The law says that here’s a man who has a skill that would justify a wage of $5 or $6 per hour (adjusted for today), but you may not employ him, it’s illegal, because if you employ him you must pay him $7.25 per hour. So what’s the result? To employ him at $7.25 per hour is to engage in charity. There’s nothing wrong with charity. But most employers are not in the position to engage in that kind of charity. Thus, the consequences of minimum wage laws have been almost wholly bad. We have increased unemployment and increased poverty.

Moreover, the effects have been concentrated on the groups that the do-gooders would most like to help. The people who have been hurt most by the minimum wage laws are the blacks. I have often said that the most anti-black law on the books of this land is the minimum wage law.

Friedman is right on. Thanks for posting.
We can now expect crime to go up because unemployment among young Blacks is increasing.
To all the supporters of $15.00 minimum wages for teens.....thanks for nothing.

7   FNWGMOBDVZXDNW   2016 Jul 11, 2:49pm  

indigenous says

The people who have been hurt most by the minimum wage laws are the blacks. I have often said that the most anti-black law on the books of this land is the minimum wage law.

You forgot laws against hiring children and laws requiring landlords to remove peeling lead paint. I mean, the lead paint thing just drives up the cost of rent, ruining lives. And what's a single mother to do when she can't put her children to work? They should make cash while their hands are little and can manipulate sewing needles and soldering irons.

8   indigenous   2016 Jul 11, 2:56pm  

YesYNot says

And what's a single mother to do when she can't put her children to work?

The government pays single mothers well for each child.

You and HC orbit progressive inanity with a precession towards asininity...

9   dublin hillz   2016 Jul 11, 3:09pm  

The issue is the geezers who work the second job in the department stores. 20 years ago, teenagers were doing those jobs, but not it's geriatric galore. I don't think they even need the money, it's some sort of weird sadism where they intentionally obtain the second job so that youngsters can't get none as they laugh all the way to the bank.

10   exfatguy   2016 Jul 11, 4:39pm  

Hey, if you keep raising the minimum wage without raising everybody else's wage, higher qualified people will compete for the minimum wage job, locking out the lower skilled people that minimum wage was designed for.

11   indigenous   2016 Jul 11, 4:47pm  

The facts don't reconcile with your statement.

12   indigenous   2016 Jul 11, 4:48pm  

exfatguy says

Hey, if you keep raising the minimum wage without raising everybody else's wage, higher qualified people will compete for the minimum wage job, locking out the lower skilled people that minimum wage was designed for.

Sactly what happens.

13   MisdemeanorRebel   2016 Jul 11, 6:30pm  

The better answer is we don't need massive unskilled employment with millions of blacks and teen unemployed.

That being said, chart is pure Bullshit. I mean, what else was a feature of 2009 besides the minimum wage increasing from a paltry $4.25/hr? It wasn't a worldwide financial crisis caused by groups like the AEI who led the way on killing Glass-Steagal and deregulating the banking industry to let the free market show how wonderful it would create permanent plateaus of fairy dust and unicorn farts, right?

14   FNWGMOBDVZXDNW   2016 Jul 11, 6:42pm  

indigenous says

The government pays single mothers well for each child.

That's true, but some women don't want to sell their children.

15   mmmarvel   2016 Jul 11, 7:16pm  

dublin hillz says

The issue is the geezers who work the second job in the department stores. 20 years ago, teenagers were doing those jobs, but not it's geriatric galore. I don't think they even need the money, it's some sort of weird sadism where they intentionally obtain the second job so that youngsters can't get none as they laugh all the way to the bank.

The reason the geezers get the jobs is because they will actually work. They won't be on their cell phones, they won't be taking extra days off. They won't be whining about the wage or the amount of work given to them. Heck, they will actually be nice to customers and have a clue as to where stuff is located in the store.

16   indigenous   2016 Jul 11, 8:25pm  

thunderlips11 says

That being said, chart is pure Bullshit. I mean, what else was a feature of 2009 besides the minimum wage increasing from a paltry $4.25/hr?

If you would paid attention to the few paragraphs of text:

indigenous says

Except for a slightly higher increase of 12.2 percentage points during the aftermath of the Great Recession, the 12 percentage point increase in June was the highest monthly increase in history going back to 1972 when the BLS starting keeping records for this series.

It had nothing to do with:

thunderlips11 says

I mean, what else was a feature of 2009 besides the minimum wage increasing from a paltry $4.25/hr?

thunderlips11 says

The better answer is we don't need massive unskilled employment with millions of blacks and teen unemployed.

And that is a bullshit racist statement.

17   tatupu70   2016 Jul 12, 5:15am  

mmmarvel says

They won't be whining about the wage or the amount of work given to them.

That's right. They'll take the shit sandwich offered to them by Big Business and they'll keep their mouth shut. Just like the H1Bs do.

We can't have workers who think they deserve a livable wage!! Or benefits!! Or opportunity to advance!!

18   mmmarvel   2016 Jul 12, 6:28am  

tatupu70 says

That's right. They'll take the shit sandwich offered to them by Big Business and they'll keep their mouth shut. Just like the H1Bs do.

We can't have workers who think they deserve a livable wage!! Or benefits!! Or opportunity to advance!!

Sounds like a real attitude issue. They (the geezers) have been around the block a time or two. They know how it works and in many cases they have the choice if they WANT to work or not. Many are just looking at something to do and are happy to work, unlike many young people who think they should get stuff for simply existing. And my Lord, if you are actually asking me to work, it will be on my terms and what I define as work and when I want to work and, and, and. Bottom line, they don't have a clue, they forgot to buy a vowel and the only true skill set that they have is whining.

tatupu70 says

We can't have workers who think they deserve a livable wage!! Or benefits!! Or opportunity to advance!!

Livable wage??? And how (and who) will determine that? What is livable in Laredo, Texas going to work in San Francisco?? Will 'livable' in Greensboro, NC be enough to live in New York City?? You want benefits, then don't accept a job that doesn't include those?? Opportunity for advancement? Earn it, bring something to the table besides occupying space - study, earn certifications, show up when scheduled and don't waste your job time on your personal life (personal cell phone stuff). Sorry, I look at what people do (and don't do) and judge them (OMG I judge them) based on what they show me. And they show me by attitude, attire, what I see them doing when they are suppose to be working. There ARE productive young people (people in general) but there are also quite a few who don't have any idea what work requires or how to act when the are at work.

19   tatupu70   2016 Jul 12, 6:45am  

mmmarvel says

unlike many young people who think they should get stuff for simply

No, I'd say it's more like young people who think they should get paid according to the value they add. They're tired of getting exploited.

mmmarvel says

And how (and who) will determine that?

You think it's hard to determine?

mmmarvel says

What is livable in Laredo, Texas going to work in San Francisco?? Will 'livable' in Greensboro, NC be enough to live in New York City??

And that's why minimum wage can be different in each of those areas. Why should my taxes be used to subsidize businesses by paying their labor costs?? No business should be able to pay a wage that is low enough to entitle a full time worker to collect welfare.

20   Strategist   2016 Jul 12, 8:24am  

Ironman says

tatupu70 says

I'd say it's more like young people who think they should get paid according to the value they add.

If that was truly the case, the majority of these young people would be PAYING the EMPLOYER, as they are a net drag on the organization.

LOL. Costs money to train bums who don't want to learn.

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