The federal government set its first minimum wage, at 25 cents an hour, in 1938. But nearly 80 years later, economists still aren’t sure how a higher minimum wage actually affects companies and their customers. Ripple effects from the minimum wage are sure to draw even more scrutiny now. “If we were adding a zero and looking at a $150 minimum wage, there would be a negative effect. Workers who already had minimum wage jobs did not become unemployed because of the wage hike, the researchers found.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 11, 2017 15:03 UTC