The minimum wage in the District could jump 21 percent to $10 if President Barack Obama successfully increases the federal minimum wage, which he called for during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, a move that could cost D.C. jobs, the Washington Examiner reported.
Robert Lerman, an economist at the Urban Institute, said Wednesday that a minimum wage hike could hurt most the group it is designed to help: low-skilled minority workers. Economic data on the effects of increasing the minimum wage acknowledge that at some point, an inflated minimum wage will prompt employers to cut jobs.