Forbes Magazine 2016 Candidates: on Jobs

Gina Raimondo: Touts unemployment rate of 4.3%, lowest rate since 2001

The economic facts that matter to most Rhode Islanders, according to Brown, are that the costs of health care, housing, education and child care have gone up, and continue to go up, while wages have "flatlined." "That basic fact means life has gotten harder for people and continues to get harder," Brown said.

Yet, a July 19 press release from Governor Raimondo's office trumpets 2,500 jobs created in June, "another all-time high jobs record," and an unemployment rate of 4.3 percent, the lowest unemployment rate since 2001. "This jobs report is another clear sign that our approach to economic development, commitment to job training and support for tourism is working," Raimondo says in a statement.

Tom Del Beccaro: $15 mandated wages results in lower employment

Perhaps a minimum wage of $15 won't terribly affect San Francisco. But in a place where unemployment already is so high, like Mendota, or Huron or other Central Valley towns like them where unemployment is above 20%, higher mandated wages will directly result in even lower employment. You see, the more something costs, the less of it is acquired. That basic law of economics applies to cars and jobs alike.

The same day they voted to raise the minimum wage, five Democratic lawmakers received big campaign checks from the SEIU, the group that pressured lawmakers for the wage bill. Why would the government union do that? That's easy--the minimum wage boost will result in $3.6 billion a year in increased wages for the public employee union workers--none of whom will lose their jobs because they are immune from market forces.