From Keystone Research Center (http://www.keystoneresearch.org):
The map above presents the percent change in real annual average weekly wages by county in Pennsylvania and in six bordering states (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia) and the District of Columbia in food services.
The counties shaded in red had the most growth in wages between 2012 and 2016 and yellow the least. As the map makes clear, especially in New York, northern West Virginia, and Maryland there was more growth in wages in food services than in Pennsylvania.
Overall in Pennsylvania, real wages in food services grew by just 5% while across the region they grew 7.8%.
Not only has wage growth been stronger in the rest of our region where the minimum wage has increased, but so has employment growth.
Even as the purchasing power of the minimum wage rose 12% across the region, payroll growth in food services was up 12.5% compared to much slower growth of 6.8% in Pennsylvania, where the minimum wage lost 4.7% of its purchasing power.
These simple descriptive statistics are consistent with what researchers using more sophisticated econometrics tend to find, wages RISE MORE where the minimum wage is increased and rising wages have little to no impact on employment growth.
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