A Bluefield University economics professor said Virginia’s upcoming minimum wage increase will likely result in higher unemployment.
Paul Bennett, a professor of economics at Bluefield University, said the wage increase scheduled for Jan. 1 will cause job losses.
“Minimum wage is a classic example of a price floor,” Bennett said. “A price floor will always produce a surplus and a surplus in the labor market is unemployment. So, almost guaranteed there will be some unemployment increase with this minimum wage.”
Bennett said it is impossible to predict how much unemployment will rise when the minimum wage increases from $12.41 to $12.77 per hour on Jan. 1.
The increase comes from a 2020 law that ties the state’s minimum wage to the consumer price index.
Virginia residents are not the only ones seeing an income increase next year. Social Security recipients will receive a 2.8 percent cost of living adjustment.
West Virginia’s minimum wage remains $8.75 per hour.
Leave a Reply