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ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo’s plan to raise New York’s minimum wage to $15 an hour would cost the state up to 588,800 jobs if it were approved by the Legislature, a new report revealed.
New York City would lose between 95,600 and 273,800 jobs as employers cut back on hiring to offset the costs of paying higher wages to existing workers, according to the report released Thursday by Empire Center for Public Policy and the American Action Forum.
“Pay increases for millions will come at the expense of lost employment opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people," said Empire Center President E.J. McMahon, calling it “an unacceptably high price to pay.”
Cuomo, with the backing of state labor leaders and Vice President Biden, announced in September that he would push for a $15-an-hour minimum wage for all workers.
The state's current $8.75 minimum wage will rise to $9 an hour at the end of the year. City fast-food workers will get $15 by 2018.
"It's no surprise this report mirrors the world view of an organization backed by the very forces that fight against every minimum wage increase and runs counter to the findings of the U.S. Labor Department, noted economists and past experience in New York,” said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi. “The Governor and a majority of New Yorkers believe that if you work full time you shouldn't be condemned to a life of poverty."
$15 minimum wage would cost N.Y. up to 588,800 jobs: report
New York City would lose between 95,600 and 273,800 jobs as employers cut back on hiring to offset the costs of paying higher wages to existing workers, according to the report released Thursday by Empire Center for Public Policy and the American Action Forum.
“Pay increases for millions will come at the expense of lost employment opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people," said Empire Center President E.J. McMahon, calling it “an unacceptably high price to pay.”
Cuomo, with the backing of state labor leaders and Vice President Biden, announced in September that he would push for a $15-an-hour minimum wage for all workers.
The state's current $8.75 minimum wage will rise to $9 an hour at the end of the year. City fast-food workers will get $15 by 2018.
"It's no surprise this report mirrors the world view of an organization backed by the very forces that fight against every minimum wage increase and runs counter to the findings of the U.S. Labor Department, noted economists and past experience in New York,” said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi. “The Governor and a majority of New Yorkers believe that if you work full time you shouldn't be condemned to a life of poverty."
$15 minimum wage would cost N.Y. up to 588,800 jobs: report
