The Michigan state legislature has voted to increase the minimum wage in the state from the federally mandated $5.15/hr to $6.95/hr in October. Now, as of this past January Michigan's unemployment rate was 6.2%, nearly 1.5 percentage points higher than the national rate. Given such a high unemployment rate, I would think the last thing you want to do is increase the cost employers have to pay to bring on new employees. What's more, how many employers will be forced to lay off a portion of their staff because they can't afford to pay all of their workers $6.95/hr?
That's not to say there aren't benfits to the increase. Those making less than $6.95/hr fortunate enough to retain their jobs will be better off financially, but it doesn't seem worth the further entrenchment and exacerbation of Michigan's unemployment problem.
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