Ben Zipperer, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, sees the job loss impacts as minimal opposed to the potential gains to be had from a minimum wage hike. Employers are largely able to avoid workforce reductions, he said, because minimum wage increases bring greater employee retention. He also cites research that minimum wage increases can help reduce criminal recidivism.
“It is correct that one way that businesses accommodate higher wage increases is by raising prices. It just turns out empirically that price increase is very small relative to the actual wage increase,” Zipperer said.
Zipperer argues these increases don’t necessarily keep customers out of businesses. Unlike when a company raises prices independently, competitors in the same industry are all facing the minimum wage hike, meaning one company doesn’t suddenly become less attractive to customers than another. Also, people are just willing to pay more to help low-wage employees, Zipperer said.
“Customers are very willing and much less sensitive to price increases when they understand that the price increase is there to actually help workers make ends meet,” Zipperer said.
KOSU (Oklahoma City NPR)
May 26, 2026
And yet, metrics like GDP and DOW tell us the US economy is flourishing. But for who? While these metrics grow, the share attained by working people has not. The Economic Policy Institute found that between 1979 to 2025, worker productivity grew 92.4%. Meanwhile, pay only increased by 33.6%.
Fosters Daily Democrat
May 26, 2026
The exodus of foreign workers during the 2008 foreclosure crisis, when almost 2 million construction workers lost their jobs, has had a lasting impact.
New York Times
May 26, 2026
Only 8% of full-time salaried workers are currently eligible for overtime pay, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.
HR Dive
May 26, 2026
Black job losses in 2025 underscore the Fed’s reporting. According to the Economic Policy Institute’s Valerie Wilson, the Black unemployment rate rose 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same time last year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also recently reported that the Black unemployment rate, which is typically higher than the national average, rose to 7.3 percent, making the rate as high as it was the pandemic in 2021. As I’ve previously noted, Black women endured sudden and staggering job loss as more than 300,000 were let go in the first few months of 2025.
Truthout
May 26, 2026
It is also important to note that AGI includes both wages and taxable investment income. An Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis of Social Security Administration data further examined average annual earnings among top earners and found the following.
Investopedia
May 26, 2026
Last month, 40 policy and labor organizations took their fight for a federal framework to protect workers from AI disruptions to Capitol Hill. Led by the Economic Policy Institute, the AFL-CIO Tech Institute, and two social justice groups, We Build Progress and Workshop, they reminded members of Congress that majorities of Americans want to establish guardrails that protect jobs and states’ regulatory powers.
The American Prospect
May 26, 2026
Using data from implementation of the Minnesota unemployment benefits, the Economic Policy Institute estimated that a similar bill would cost Illinois school districts $56.3 million. This figure omits implementation costs and unemployment take-up by colleges and university employees, although these figures are likely to represent a relatively small percentage of the total compared to school districts.
Medill News Service
May 26, 2026
Vesconte is not alone. The college degree is “losing its edge”, according to a report this month from the Economic Policy Institute. Despite a growing economy and low unemployment rates, young college graduates are faced with dismal hiring prospects. Survey after survey show that gen Z is experiencing deep economic instability, along with eroding trust in the country’s leadership and weakened social connections.
The Guardian
May 26, 2026
According to the Economic Policy Institute, NAFTA caused the loss of 700,000 U.S. jobs in the automotive, auto parts, aerospace, textile and apparel industries as production shifted to Mexico. American workers who lost high-paying manufacturing jobs were often re-employed in jobs that paid far less.
Spectrum News 1
May 26, 2026