House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wisc.) spoke out against raising the minimum wage on CNBC’s Squawk Box Wednesday morning, following the President’s State of the Union, in which he announced a wage increase for federal contractors.
Ryan called the increasing the minimum wage "bad economics," and explained that raising the minimum wage actually hurts Americans instead of helping them.
"Look, what we want are more people to enter into the work force. We don’t want to make it more expensive for employers to be able to hire people… With these horrible labor force participation rates, what matters most is getting people into the work force, then getting the skills and the economic growth that allows them to get a better paying job" he explained.
Ryan added that those most negatively affected by the wage hikes are "young people and people in the inner city" who need entry-level jobs.