Minimum wages and unemployment rates in Santa Fe/Albuquerque

If you didn’t see it, the new study from the Employment Policies Institute that I blogged about yesterday really explains why laws mandating increased minimum wages are unwise. Here are some specific details on unemployment for 16-24 year olds (August 2012 data) that further bolster the case against higher mandated wages:

Albuquerque’s unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds: 8.8%
Santa Fe’s unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds: 21.9%
National unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds: 16.5%

Clearly, the job market for young people, the group primarily impacted by minimum wages, is far better in Albuquerque than it is in Santa Fe, despite the “City Different’s” low overall unemployment rate. Santa Fe’s highest-in-the-nation minimum wage hurts those it is supposed to help. Albuquerque should not follow Santa Fe’s path to economic self-destruction.