There are a lot of numbers swirling around describing the impact of Governor Gavin Newsom’s $20 fast food minimum wage law in California. On one hand, the Governor is claiming there haven’t been any job losses (in fact citing preliminary data not adjusted for seasonal hiring factors to say there have been job increases). On the other hand, EPI and others have cited various sources with various data sets which all point to job losses stemming from the signing and implementation of the $20 wage law.
This week, a new data set dropped, and provides more evidence that the $20 fast food wage is hurting California.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages tracks actual employer filings, and covers companies that employ 95% of jobs nationwide. Even the pro-$20 wage, union-funded UC Berkeley Labor Center says it’s a preferred data source to measure employment changes. The QCEW data analyzed by EPI shows that since the signing of the $20 minimum wage law, California has lost over 6,100 fast food jobs.
That’s a steep decline from the same period last year, when the state added over 17,500 fast food jobs.
The -1.1% decline in California fast food jobs is unique to the passage and implementation of the $20 wage law. Nationwide, fast food jobs grew 1.6% since September 2023.
AB 1228 was signed into law in September 2023. After the signing, businesses began bracing for the change by laying off staff, reducing hours, and turning to automation to fill the void. The new data also comes just one month after voters rejected a ballot measure to raise the statewide minimum wage to $18 an hour.
EPI’s research director Rebekah Paxton told reporters:
“Newsom took a sledgehammer to the state’s restaurants when he signed the $20 fast food minimum wage law. Jobs have been smashed by thousands and the industry is struggling to stay afloat. Californians saw the devastation first hand and voted to stop the bleeding, delivering the state’s first minimum wage ballot measure rejection. It’s time California’s elected and appointed representatives wake up and stop any additional wage hikes before they can cause even more damage.”
Read more here.