Fast-food jobs have increased in California since the state implemented a $20 minimum wage across the industry despite claims by trade groups that say the hike has hurt franchisees and their employees. The fast-food industry in California added 10,000 jobs from March through May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The new wage went into effect on April 1. In March, the month prior to the new wage, the state had 735,000 fast-food workers.
said the wage hike was responsible for businesses having to cut labor costs to survive. The rule impacts restaurants that have at least 60 locations nationwide, except those that make and sell their own bread. "If I was Gov; Newsom, I wouldn’t be proud of the lowest year-over-year fast-food employment growth we’ve seen in years,"
president and founder Tom Manzo told FOX Business. "Barring the pandemic, growth hasn’t been this low since the great recession." Manzo said the governor was desperate to highlight "a month or two of data that tell a positive story, but the bigger picture is still overwhelmingly negative. He owes fast-food businesses, like the owner of the McDonald’s in San Francisco that just closed, an apology.