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<br /> <br />The Effects of a $15 Minimum Wage by 2019 in Santa Clara County and San Jose 7 <br /> <br />SCENARIO B: KEY FINDINGS FOR A $15 MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE IN <br />ALL OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY – BY 2019 <br />Economic context <br />• After accounting for inflation, the earnings of typical workers in the county declined by 8.3 <br />percent between their pre-recession level in 2007 and 2014. Median annual earnings in <br />Santa Clara County are 49.6 percent higher than in the state as a whole. <br />• Santa Clara County has experienced rapid employment growth in the recovery from the <br />recession. Over 62 percent of Santa Clara County’s working age residents are employed, <br />compared to 57 percent in the state as a whole. <br />• The unemployment rate in Santa Clara County was 4.2 percent in 2015, significantly <br />below the pre-recession rate and falling. <br />Effects on workers – by the end of 2019 <br />• Increasing the minimum wage to $15 would increase earnings for about 250,000 workers <br />in Santa Clara County, or 25.3 percent of the county’s workforce. <br />• Among those getting raises in Santa Clara County, annual pay would increase 19.4 <br />percent, or $3,200 (in 2014 dollars) on average. These estimates include a ripple effect in <br />which some workers who already earn $15 will also receive an increase. <br />• The demographics of the affected workers in Santa Clara County mirror those in San Jose: <br />95.5 percent are over the age of 20, with a median age of 32; 37.0 percent are married; <br />33.9 percent have children; nearly half are Latino. <br />• The median annual earnings of affected workers ($17,821 in 2014 dollars) are about <br />one-third of the median for all workers in Santa Clara County ($57,956). <br />Effects on businesses and consumers – by the end of 2019 <br />• Three industries account for nearly half of the private sector workers getting increases in <br />Santa Clara County: food services (20.2 percent), retail trade (16.1 percent), and <br />administrative and waste management services (11.9 percent). <br />• 71 percent of workers in the restaurant industry in the private sector would receive a <br />wage increase, compared to 11.2 percent in manufacturing. <br />8.A. - Page 21