California Fast Food Restaurants Shed Thousands of Jobs after $20 Minimum Wage Hike

California’s fast food industry shed more than 6,000 jobs after Democratic lawmakers passed a bill mandating a $20 minimum wage for most fast food and counter service restaurants in the state, according to a new analysis of labor data.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that between September 2023, when California governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1228, and June 2024, Golden State fast food employment dropped from 570,909 jobs to 564,743. That’s a loss of 6,166 jobs, or 1.1 percent, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Employment Policies Institute.

During that same period a year earlier, California fast food restaurants added 17,528 jobs, a 3.1 percent increase over those ten months in 2022 and 2023, the data show.

“Newsom took a sledgehammer to the state’s restaurants when he signed the $20 fast food minimum wage law,” Rebekah Paxton, EPI’s research director, said in a press release. “Jobs have been smashed by thousands and the industry is struggling to stay afloat.”