• About Us
  • Activity
  • Advertising
  • Books
  • Business
  • Contact
  • Dashboard
  • EB5
  • Entertainment
  • feedback
  • Forgot Your Password?
  • Government
  • Home
  • Home 20723
  • Interviews
  • Login
  • Members
  • Meme generator
  • National
  • Nevada
  • Nevada News and Views
  • Newsmax
  • NN&V Ads
  • Opinion
  • Pick a New Password
  • Politics
  • Polls
  • Privacy Policy
  • Profile
  • Recent comments by me
  • Recent comments on my posts
  • Register
  • Submit post
  • Subscribe
  • Subscription Confirmation
  • Survey
  • Survey
  • Terms of Service
  • Today’s Top 10
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Welcome!
  • Yop Poll Archive
Nevada News and Views
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • More
    • Opinion
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Pinterest

  • RSS

Opinion

National Group Says Nevada Minimum Wage Hike Hurts Teen Hiring

National Group Says Nevada Minimum Wage Hike Hurts Teen Hiring
Chuck Muth
June 30, 2010

(Sean Whaley/Nevada News Bureau) – It may be welcome news for those who have entry level jobs, but a more than 9 percent hike in the minimum wage to take effect Thursday in Nevada will have a chilling effect on hiring, particularly for teens, according to one national group.

Nevada’s minimum wage will increase to $8.25 an hour on July 1, up from the current $7.55 an hour that took effect on July 1, 2009. For minimum wage workers who have access to qualified medical plans, the wage will be $1 less, or $7.25 an hour, up from $6.55 an hour.

The increase comes as state officials recently announced the Nevada jobless rate hit 14 percent in May, highest in the nation and the highest ever reported in the state. The state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said Nevada’s employers added 4,800 jobs in May, but most of the increase was seasonal or temporary census hiring.

The agency reported that Nevada’s youngest workers, “are bearing the brunt of the recession worse than any other age group.” At 22.8 percent, the unemployment rate for workers aged 16-24 is nearly twice the rate of other groups, the agency said in its May Economy in Brief report.

The hike in the wage is required as a result of a voter-approved state constitutional amendment in 2006 that tied Nevada’s wage to the federal minimum wage and provided for increases based on inflation. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. The Nevada constitutional amendment requires the Nevada wage to be $1 higher.

One critic of the minimum wage hike says it has a negative effect on teen hiring.

“More than one in four teens in Nevada is looking for work without success, and it’s not just because of the recession,” said Michael Saltsman, research fellow at the Washington, DC-based Employment Policies Institute.

The institute looked only at unemployment for those aged 16 to 19 and determined the rate in Nevada was 34.6 percent as of April 2010 – the second highest in the country.

“Minimum wage mandates are keeping teens from finding a job and the coming increase in the Nevada state minimum will make it worse,” he said.

The institute cited a study from Ball State University that attributed the loss of 310,000 teen jobs to the 40 percent increase in the federal minimum wage between July 2007 and July 2009.

“It’s the least-skilled and least-experienced that are hit hardest as a result of increases in the minimum wage,” Saltsman continued. “They’re missing out on the valuable career skills that come from a first job.”

The minimum wage is well intentioned but ultimately does more harm than good, he said. Increased labor costs could lead to the permanent elimination of jobs as employers look for cheaper ways to operate, Saltsman said.

Prev postNext post

Related Items
Opinion
June 30, 2010
Chuck Muth

Related Items

More in Opinion

Caldara: The GOP’s Master Plan to Keep Losing

NN&V StaffFebruary 3, 2024
Read More

Governors ask Biden for ‘honest, accurate’ information on illegal immigration

The Center SquareOctober 4, 2023
Read More

Amodei Statement on Debt Ceiling Bill

Chuck MuthJune 1, 2023
Read More

Tark: Trans “Rights” … and Wrongs

Chuck MuthMay 26, 2023
Read More

Stone: The Truth About AB 250: Will Patients Really Benefit?

NN&V StaffMay 26, 2023
Read More

“Ungrateful Miscreants”: Miller, Segerblom Insult Local Small Business Owners

NN&V StaffMay 24, 2023
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Subscribe Free By Email

Looking for the best in breaking news and conservative views? Let Chuck do all the work for you! Subscribe to his FREE "Muth's Truths" e-newsletter.

* indicates required
Nevada News and Views
Nevada News & Views is an educational project of Citizen Outreach Foundation, a non-partisan IRS-approved 501(c)(3) organization. It is not associated or affiliated with any political party or group. Nevada News & Views is accessible by the public at no cost. It funds its operations through tax-deductible contributions from donors and supporters and does not accept government money or grants.

TAGS

Featured Article Muths truth

Copyright © 2024 Citizen Outreach | Maintained by VirtualAlly

Why don’t we raise the minimum wage to $100 an hour?
No Jumping for Joy Over Krolicki’s New Nevada Task Force