The NC House is considering a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage to $8.50 an hour. While intended to help lower-income workers earn a “living wage,” the more likely result is to boost the earnings of some non-poor workers, including many teens and seasonal workers, while increasing the unemployment rate for many poor and minority workers. Employers will not hire people whose work efforts are worth less in the market than a government-imposed wage. A better policy to boost the earnings of entry-level workers would be to address their educational deficiencies.