Reality Check for a $15 Minimum Wage How many jobs for the young and unskilled do Democrats want to lose? By The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Feb. 8, 2021 President Biden says his priority is creating new jobs and he wants "to grow the economy for all Americans.' But look at how the Congressional Budget Office sizes up his proposal for a $15 federal minimum wage. Phasing in this mandatory wage floor by 2025, according to the CBO's new average estimate, would result in loss of 1.4 million jobs. The idled workers would be disproportionately younger and less educated, and CBO projects that half of them would drop out of the labor force. Prices would also rise for goods and services that rely on entry-level labor, "such as food prepared in restaurants." The federal budget deficit through 2031 would increase $54 billion, CBO says, as the government spent more on unemployment benefits and health-care programs