到2027年，这座城市的最低工资标准有望成为全美最高，与此同时企业新设数量持续下滑，办公楼空置率不断攀升
2026年9月30日 美国东部时间6:00 / 福克斯新闻频道
作者：罗伯特·施马德
加州某县拟通过全美有史以来最高最低工资标准
就业政策研究所研究主任丽贝卡·帕克斯顿就上调最低工资标准向当地官员发出警告，此时阿拉米达县正推进美国历史上最高的最低工资强制标准。
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西雅图计划于2027年将最低工资标准上调至每小时22.14美元，而整个大都会地区正面临职位空缺大幅减少的困境，西雅图企业也面临着日益沉重的成本压力。
从2025年开始，包括小企业在内的所有西雅图雇主都必须执行统一的最低工资标准，该标准每年会根据通胀情况进行调整。此后已有多家西雅图餐馆业主表示，不断上涨的劳动力成本是导致他们关闭门店的经济压力因素之一。
2025年上半年，也就是这项适用于所有企业的加薪政策实施后不久，西雅图共有450家餐馆关门停业，约占全市餐馆总数的16%。据《华尔街日报》援引支付服务商Square的数据，在亚马逊和微软园区周边的部分商业和购物街区，餐饮和零售交易额较前一年同期最多下降了7%。
桑德斯-奥卡西奥-科特兹支持的进步派议员联合100多个组织推出联邦25美元最低工资法案
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如果没有其他地区将最低工资标准上调至与西雅图持平或更高的水平，这座“翡翠城”明年将拥有全美最高的最低工资标准。一名在西雅图按最低工资标准全职工作的员工，全年收入将略高于4.6万美元。
“如果服务员每小时能拿到20美元，那我就得给厨师开每小时35美元的工资，”一名西雅图餐馆老板2024年在接受Eater网站采访时谈及加薪政策时说道。
洛杉矶酒店业领袖警告：巴斯市长的30美元最低工资强制标准在世界杯和奥运会前夕正在摧毁营商环境
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华盛顿酒店业协会首席执行官安东尼·安东在2023年接受《中心广场》杂志采访时表示：“企业经营者的利润比以往任何时候都低，却不得不收取比以往任何时候都高的费用。”
威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校研究人员发表的一项同行评审研究发现，仅西雅图上调最低工资标准的公告，就导致该市境内新企业的设立数量减少，而邻近的低最低工资标准郊区的新企业设立数量反而有所增加。
不过，西雅图最低工资上调的支持者认为，该市高昂的生活成本需要为低收入群体提供更高的薪资，以避免更多人陷入贫困。他们还声称，更高的薪资有助于企业留住员工。
新报告：自2020年薪资税实施以来，西雅图市中心流失3万个工作岗位，办公资产价值损失数十亿美元
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西雅图不断恶化的营商环境早在其全面实施通胀联动型最低工资法案之前就已显现。
根据西雅图市中心协会的数据，从2020年初新冠疫情大流行开始到2023年，约有500家当地企业关门停业。一年后，该协会统计全市共有543家空置商铺。在此期间，许多企业主将停业原因归咎于财产犯罪和当地经济因素。
企业新设数量下降对西雅图居民来说恰逢其时的坏消息：根据Axios的分析，2020年2月至2025年10月期间，该市都会区的职位发布量下降了35%，降幅仅次于旧金山。当地企业主反映，甚至有拥有硕士学位以及曾在微软等知名企业工作过的求职者前来应聘咖啡师岗位。
西雅图曾经蓬勃发展的科技驱动型经济如今已显现出明显的疲态，从招聘疲软到市中心办公楼空置率居高不下。
截至2025年第四季度，西雅图市中心办公楼的空置率达到35.6%，高于前一年的32.3%，这是高纬环球的数据。一些标志性的西雅图企业，比如星巴克，已经将业务迁出该市。
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Liberal stronghold set to adopt eye-popping minimum wage amid business exodus
The city could have the highest minimum wage in the country by 2027 as business formation declines and office vacancy rises
September 30, 2026 6:00am EDT / Fox News
By Robert Schmad
California county aims to pass the highest minimum wage in the country ever
Research Director at the Employment Policies Institute, Rebekah Paxton, warns local officials about raising the minimum wage as Alameda County advances highest mandate in U.S. history.
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Seattle is slated to increase its minimum wage to $22.14 an hour in 2027 as the broader metro area contends with a sharp drop in job openings and Seattle businesses face mounting cost pressures.
Beginning in 2025, all Seattle employers, including small businesses, were required to pay the same minimum wage, which is adjusted annually for inflation. Several Seattle restaurant owners who have since closed their businesses have cited rising labor costs among the financial pressures that contributed to their decisions.
During the first half of 2025, shortly after the wage hikes went into effect for all businesses, 450 Seattle restaurants — about 16% of the city’s total — closed. Restaurant and retail transactions fell by as much as 7% over the prior year in some business and shopping districts around Amazon and Microsoft campuses, according to Square data cited by The Wall Street Journal.
SANDERS-AOC BACKED PROGRESSIVE DEBUTS FEDERAL $25 MINIMUM WAGE BILL WITH COALITION OF 100+ ORGANIZATIONS
Starbucks employees and supporters strike in front of the former Starbucks Reserve Roastery that closed earlier in the year, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, in Seattle.(AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
If no other jurisdictions increase their minimum wages to match or surpass Seattle, the Emerald City will have the highest minimum wage in the country next year. An individual working full-time on minimum wage in the city will make just over $46,000 annually.
“If the servers are making $20 an hour, then I gotta pay the cooks $35,” one Seattle restaurant owner said of the wage increases to Eater in 2024.
LA HOTEL LEADERS WARN MAYOR BASS’ $30 WAGE MANDATE IS KILLING BUSINESS AHEAD OF WORLD CUP, OLYMPICS
The Seattle city skyline.(Nik Lanum)
“Operators are making less money than ever and are charging more than ever,” Anthony Anton, CEO of the Washington Hospitality Association, said last year, according to The Center Square.
A peer-reviewed study published by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, found that the mere announcement of Seattle’s minimum wage increase decreased the formation of new businesses in city limits while actually increasing the founding of new businesses in adjacent suburbs with lower wage floors.
Proponents of Seattle’s minimum wage increase, however, argue that the city’s high cost of living necessitates higher pay for those on the lower end of the economic spectrum to avoid more people falling into poverty. They also claim that higher pay can help businesses with staff retention.
DOWNTOWN SEATTLE LOST 30,000 JOBS, BILLIONS IN OFFICE VALUE SINCE 2020 PAYROLL TAX: NEW REPORT FINDS
In an aerial view, a homeless encampment, known informally as “Dope Slope” stands covered in garbage near downtown Seattle on March 12, 2022, in Seattle, Washington.(John Moore/Getty Images)
Seattle’s degrading business environment predates the widespread implementation of its inflation-indexed minimum wage laws.
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 to 2023, about 500 local businesses closed, according to the Downtown Seattle Association. A year later, the association counted 543 vacant storefronts in the city. During this period, many business owners cited property crime as well as local economic factors as the reasoning behind their exits.
Declining business formation comes at an inopportune time for Seattle residents as job postings in the city’s metropolitan area fell by 35% between February 2020 and October 2025, a decline second only to San Francisco, according to an Axios analysis. Local business owners have reported that individuals with master’s degrees, and those with experience at prestigious companies such as Microsoft, are applying to work as baristas.
Seattle’s once-booming tech-driven economy is now showing clear signs of strain, from weaker hiring to elevated downtown office vacancies.
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As of the fourth quarter of 2025, 35.6% of Seattle’s downtown office space was vacant, up from 32.3% the year before, according to Cushman & Wakefield data. Some iconic Seattle businesses, Starbucks, for example, have shifted operations away from the city.
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