History clearly shows that raising the minimum wage has not had any negative impact on jobs, employment, or inflation. In the four years after the last minimum wage increase passed, the economy experienced its strongest growth in over three decades. Nearly 11 million new jobs were added, at a pace of 218,000 per month. There were six million new service industry jobs, including more than one and a half million retail jobs, of which nearly 600,000 were restaurant jobs.