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Amazon’s $15 an Hour Wage Hike Could Pressure Other Retailers and Employers
Baltimore Sun, 10/02/2018
Starting in November, Amazon will raise the minimum wage to $15 per hours for all of their employees. According to RESI's Chief Economist Dr. Daraius Irani, “This increase might attract people on the sidelines now that wages are a little higher.” Dr. Irani states that due to the low unemployment rate, other employers may need to increase wages to compete and keep or entice new workers. However, Irani also adds that this wage pressure could prompt companies to look for cost-saving mechanisms such as automation: “So more people will get $15 an hour, but there will be fewer of them…Amazon can afford this but say a franchise with a McDonald’s in Baltimore may not. Or grocery stores, which run on slim margins.”
Fact Check on Gubernatorial Debate
WBAL, 9/25/2018
During a gubernatorial debate between current Governor Larry Hogan and candidate Ben Jealous, the parties made conflicting claims regarding topics including the Maryland economy. While Jealous stated the Maryland economy was “dead last in the region in job growth and dead last in income growth,” Governor Hogan claimed that, "We've had the greatest economic turnarounds in America. We are leading the region.” According to a fact check from the Regional Economic Studies Institute, “Maryland ranked 4 out of 5 in the region in terms of job growth and below the national average. Maryland ranks 3 out of 5 in terms of income growth.”
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