Study: Calif. Minimum Wage Hike Triggers Job Losses

FRESNO, CA (KMJ) It’s been a month since California’s controversial new minimum wage hike for fast food workers took effect.

One study indicates it’s already having a significant negative impact on the economy – totaling nearly 10,000 jobs being lost. Worker hours are being cut and automation is being implemented to feed the masses.

Renowned California economics professor Dr. Lee Ohanian is studying the $20 minimum wage and its impact.

He wrote about in a piece for the Independent Institute, “More fast-food job losses are coming as the new minimum wage took effect earlier this month. This includes losses at Pizza Hut and Round Table Pizza which are in the process of firing nearly 1,300 delivery drivers. El Pollo Loco and Jack in the Box announced that they will speed up the use of robotics, including robots that make salsa and cook fried foods.”

In order to keep pace, most fast food restaurants across the Golden State have hiked prices between 5-10%.

Dr. Ohanian is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and Professor of Economics and Director of the Ettinger Family Program in Macroeconomic Research at UCLA.