Economists were pleased that the economy created 217,000 jobs in May. That sent US payrolls to a record high. It was the first time since the late-1990s boom that the economy created more than 200,000 jobs a month for four consecutive months.

This despite fact that, as of the last jobs report, the US economy had—finally—”rehired” all the workers fired since the start of the Panic of 2008: “US total employment passed its previous peak of 138.4 million, set in January 2008.”  Normal recoveries regain their pre-recession levels after several months to a couple of years.

And it ignores the fact that, based on population growth, we’re still seven million jobs behind where we need to be from simple population growth since just before the Panic.

Wall Street is now starting to complain that wages are too low.

“Without a real acceleration in wages it is hard to get a meaningful pickup in consumer spending,” explained Michelle Meyer, senior US economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Weak consumer spending holds back profits and economic growth….

And

Weak wage gains also are making it hard for the housing market to return to normal, Mr [Jack, Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at BMO Private Bank] Ablin said.

He calculates that new single-family home construction is running at less than 500,000 a month. Demographics say it should be twice that….

“People are waiting longer to get married and they are having fewer kids,” Mr. Ablin said. That is making them delay home purchases. “It is certainly making us a little more cautious on the economy.”

This, though, is an economic argument for why businesses are considering making the move—it’s a question of sound business practice that only businesses can make. It’s not at all an argument that government should intrude and mandate a specific minimum wage—or even (assuming government central planning were equal to the task) that government should try to tailor a mandate to government-perceived unique conditions.