Minimum wage hikes impact a work in progress

[TexasTowelie]

7. I agree that it is too early

and thus far only the first phase of wage increases have occurred. There area number of factors that come into play as to whether the wage increases can be absorbed into the local economy such as whether the adjacent areas are even more costly than that one area. However, there may be a point where the cost of goods compared to what people earn gets flipped that people will change their lifestyles or go elsewhere where their incomes will stretch farther. It will be interesting to follow up on this story two or three years from now to see what the people think and what impact the wage increases have on the participation in the labor market. Will more people jump back in the labor market if they earn more income? I'll try to keep an open mind until we see the results.