New Year’s Day brings a rise in the minimum hourly wage in nearly half of the states in the U.S., and 48 counties, though some economists warn that the mandated raises could hurt small businesses and overall employment levels.

Fox Business reported: “An analysis by The Economic Policy Institute says 21 states will raise their minimum wage at the first of the year, along with 48 cities and counties that are lifting their pay floors above their respective state minimums – mostly in California, Colorado and Washington.”

The Wall Street Journal editorial page took a skeptical view of the changes, warning that a movement in Congress to hike the federal minimum wage (now $7.25 per hour) to $17 would fail to take local difference into account, which are better dealt with at the state level:

Twenty-one states will raise their minimum wages on Jan. 1, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, and the tenor of the news stories is that this boost to worker paychecks is an economic free lunch. The unseen effect will be added pressure on many businesses to cut hours, increase prices, and automate away opportunities for unskilled workers seeking a first job.

…

Ballot measures in Missouri and Nebraska will bring the minimum wages in those states to $13.75 and $13.50, respectively, en route to $15 in 2026. Yet the range is instructive. The inflation adjustment in Montana will be to $10.55, up 25 cents. Ohio’s is to $10.70. Those are places where a buck usually goes much further than it does on the coasts.

This is a fact often ignored by Members of Congress who want to raise the nationwide federal minimum wage to $17 or maybe more. Today it’s $7.25, but 99% of hourly workers are already above that figure. In 2023 the share of hourly employees paid at or less than the federal minimum was 1.1%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and 44% of them were under age 25. Many were no doubt soon earning more.

Washington State will have the highest minimum wage, at $16.66 per hour. California and parts of New York will have minimum wages of $16.50 per hour.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.