The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released a study on the impact of raising the hourly minimum wage over the next three years. Two scenarios were examined, raising the wage to either $10.10 or $9 and the impact on income, unemployment, and federal deficits was analyzed. Effects are relatively budget neutral, minimum impact on employment (0.3 percent decrease in jobs at $10.10 wage, and less than a 0.1 percent decrease at $9 wage). Ironically, the lion's share of increased income goes to workers avover the minimum wage (that's because these wages go to members of family above the $18,700 poverty threshold for a family of four). CBO report highlights that while a minimum wage increase is not a panacea for poverty, it does not have a significant impact on employment.
Download a copy of the CBO report here.