CBO’s $15.00 Minimum Wage Report

As President Biden attempts to increase the minimum wage to $15.00, it may be stymied by a new report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which stated that such an increase would boost jobless rolls by 1.4 million by 2025, even as 900,000 people get lifted out of poverty. The report also estimated it would increase budget deficits by $54 billion over a decade.

The CBO estimate finds that the wage increase will lead to higher prices for goods and services that the federal government will have to pay, including through the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Lost jobs would lead to higher spending on unemployment compensation.