In the 13 states that saw their minimum wage rise on Jan. 1, 2014, job growth has been higher so far this year than in states where the minimum wage stayed the same. Extreme pro-business interests often argue that raising the minimum wage will lead to job losses, but once again, the evidence suggests otherwise. The Center for Economic and Policy Research looked closely at the data and found states that raised their minimum wage increase have seen an average increase in employment of 0.99%, while the static states saw an increase of only 0.68%.
Of the 13 states, all but New Jersey saw employment gains and nine of the 13 states are above the median state in job growth. Four of the 13 states saw their minimum wage increase because of new legislation, while the rest saw automatic increases related to inflation. The states in question are: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.