It has long been debated what effect mandatory minimum wages have on the labor force at large, the creation of new jobs and the benefits afforded minimum wage employees. Well, the ongoing labor shortage notwithstanding, there were a couple of new reports released recently that shed additional light on those questions. First, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis released a new study that found minimum wage increases in Minneapolis resulted in 12% fewer jobs in full-service restaurants and 18% at limited-service businesses in 2018 and 2019. St. Paul saw job drops of 16% and 27% in those two categories during the same time frame. Both cities mandate increases in the minimum wage annually, while the state of Minnesota prohibits employers from taking a tip credit for employees earning regular tip income. At the other end of the spectrum, none other than Biden nominee to serve as the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the Department of Labor, David Weil, co-authored a study that found announced minimum wage increases by large employers such as Amazon, Walmart, Target and others led to slight increases in wages at smaller businesses but also yielded an overall loss of jobs across the broader economy! Weil was nominated by Biden back in June to return to the post he held at DOL under former President Obama. His nomination, which has run into significant opposition from republicans in the Senate, has yet to be advanced for a final confirmation vote.