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.
Wall Street Journal
January 8, 2025
In all, 21 states will raise their wage floors on Jan. 1 in keeping with inflation-adjusted increases or as part of scheduled hikes that take effect at the beginning of each calendar year.
The pay increases will affect about 9.2 million workers, who will gain a combined $5.7 billion over the course of 2025, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, or EPI.
ABC News
January 8, 2025
According to the nonpartisan think tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI), more than 9.2 million workers saw a raise in their minimum wage paychecks starting on Jan. 1. They will receive a total of $5.7 billion more pay in 2025.
Investopedia
January 8, 2025
According to the Economic Policy Institute, hourly minimum wages increased in 21 states when the clock struck midnight as we welcomed 2025.
Those wage increases will reportedly impact an estimated 9.2 million workers and raise pay by a total of $5.7 billion.
“These additional earnings are critical for ensuring workers don’t lose ground due to rising prices, but the minimum wage level may still be too low, especially if the minimum wage was indexed years ago and not revisited since,” economic analyst Sebastian Martinez Hickey wrote.
Gray News (TV)
January 8, 2025
Minimum-wage workers in 21 states will see a bigger paycheck come the new year. They’re among the many thousands of laws changing as a new year begins.
Those wage increases will impact an estimated 9.2 million workers and raise pay by a total of $5.7 billion, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank that publishes economic research and examined the expected 2025 wage increases.
NPR
January 8, 2025
In simple terms, a tariff is a sales tax on items imported from foreign countries. Trump plans to implement a 25% tariff on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico, as well as an additional 10% tariff on anything imported from China, The Guardian reported.
“Some of that is stuff we consume directly from abroad, especially food,” Adam Hersh, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a DC-based think tank, tells Teen Vogue.
Teen Vogue
January 8, 2025
Though acknowledging voluntary recognition is a strong tool for workers when used properly — union elections can be costly and time-consuming — greater checks ought to be put in place to ensure unscrupulous unions don’t establish deals without buy-in from workers, said Dave Kamper, a policy strategist at the Economic Policy Institute.
“It is not good when members do not know they’re in a union. It is not good when members do not know that a contract is being negotiated on their behalf,” said Kamper. “It is not good when members don’t have any say in how that contract is negotiated, and no self-respecting democratic union operates that way.”
The City
January 8, 2025
A report recently released by the Economic Policy Institute, though, suggests that the CHOOSE Act could have far greater costs for Alabama’s public schools than the sticker price alone would suggest.
The report’s author, economist Hilary Wething, said that “vouchers undermine efforts to make excellent public education available to all children by pressuring fiscal resources available to public schools.”
Alabama Political Reporter
January 8, 2025
Relatively few people earn the minimum — only around 3% of Arizonans, according to one study by the Economic Policy Institute, which advocates for higher wages.
Arizona Republic
January 8, 2025
Corporations are entitled to make profits, of course. Indeed, in our economic system we need them to be profitable. But how much is too much — especially considering the astronomical salaries of many corporate executives? According to the Economic Policy Institute, over the past 45 years, top CEO compensation increased by 1,085% (not a typo) while their typical worker’s salary inched up by just 24%.
Dan Rather Substack
January 8, 2025