Economists have always had difficulty showing that increases in the minimum wage cause much job loss. That might change with Oregon's new minumum. The median wage in Oregon is around 45000, or about 21.50 per hour. That's uncomfortably close to the new minimum, leading one to believe this has the potential to be very disruptive to the labor market. I hope it doesn't, but this is uncharted territory. From everything I have read, the minimum should be about half of the median, which is about where Oregon was. But in its rush to pass this bill, the legislature took no testimony from an economist that I can find. Not a good idea.