In February 2014 we published a policy brief on Washington’s minimum wage and teenage unemployment. In that brief we noted that every year since voters approved Initiative 688, which increased the state minimum wage in two steps and indexed it to inflation, Washington’s unemployment rate for teenagers had exceeded the national rate. This continued to be the case in 2014. Here are updates to two charts from the brief.

The updated Chart 1 compares 2014 unemployment rates by standard age groupings for Washington state to those for the nation as a whole. For 2014, Washington’s overall unemployment rate of 6.3 percent was slightly worse than the overall national rate of 6.2 percent. For the 16 to 19 age category, the margin was greater, 23.2 percent versus 19.6 percent. For individuals for age 20 and older, Washington’s unemployment rate was equal to the national rate (5.7 percent).

The updated Chart 3 shows unemployment rates for the 16 to 19 category and the 20 and older category for Washington and the nation as a whole for the years 1997 through 2014. In 1997, Washington’s 16 to 19 unemployment rate was slightly below the national value (15.8 percent versus 16.0 percent), while in 1998 it was somewhat above the national value (16.0 percent versus 14.6 percent). In 1999, after I-688 came into effect the gap between the Washington and national 16 to 19 unemployment rates expanded to 4.2 percentage points (18.1 percent versus 13.9 percent). In every year after I-866, Washington’s 16 to 19 unemployment rate is greater than the national value. The average gap between the rates is 5.1 percentage points.

Our original policy brief is available here.