NewsomNewsom attacked President Trump and Republicans while taking credit for an automatic inflation adjustment, after California’s $20 fast-food mandate ignited a fierce battle over lost jobs, reduced hours, and higher prices.California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that the state’s minimum wage will increase to $17.40 per hour beginning January 1, 2027.The 50-cent increase represents a nearly 3% jump from California’s current statewide minimum wage of $16.90.A full-time employee working 40 hours every week would earn approximately $1,040 more annually before taxes, assuming the worker’s hours are not reduced.At $17.40, California’s mandatory wage floor will be higher than any current statewide minimum wage in the country. Washington presently holds the top spot at $17.13 per hour.Newsom used the announcement to attack President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans over the federal minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 since 2009.Of course, Newsom conveniently neglected to mention that the federal minimum wage also remained frozen at $7.25 throughout Joe Biden’s entire presidency, including the period when Democrats controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress.“They think $7.25 an hour is enough. We don’t,” Newsom declared in the official announcement.“California’s minimum wage has grown from $12 an hour when Governor Newsom took office to $17.40 an hour starting on January 1, 2027. The wage increase is part of a broader agenda to make life more affordable for Californians.”This is pure political theater from a governor eyeing 2028 and desperate to brand himself the champion of “working families.” The reality on the ground in Newsom’s California tells a different story.California’s unemployment rate remains stubbornly higher than the national average, hovering around 5.2 percent in recent data while the U.S. rate sits lower.Businesses have closed or fled the state for years under the weight of the highest taxes, strictest regulations, and constantly rising labor mandates.The $20 fast-food wage already triggered price hikes, reduced hours, automation, and franchise struggles. Small businesses — the real engines of job creation for entry-level workers, absorb the hit while Newsom’s progressive allies cheer.More from New York Post:Scott Meyers, who is running for Congress, told The Post, “Governor Gavin Newsom pointlessly references the low federal minimum wage in an effort to display his own virtue of raising our minimum wage to $17.40.He cleverly omits that the federal minimum wage has zero relevance in the state of California. Moreover, from Taco Bell, all the way up to Whole Foods, businesses will adjust and have customers interact increasingly with self service checkouts as they have already done. The more the minimum wage is, the less entry-level employees there will be. This helps nobody. It actually harms. Gavin knows this.”Many California healthcare workers already saw another scheduled increase on July 1, pushing minimum wages to between $19.28 and $25 an hour depending on the type of facility.[…]State Republicans blasted Newsom for playing politics with the wage announcement.“Every Californian deserves a raise. The problem is Sacramento keeps raising the cost of living right along with it,” the California Assembly GOP Caucus said in a statement to The Post. “Instead of celebrating another wage increase, the governor should explain why California keeps getting more expensive.”The post Far-Left Gavin Newsom Announces $17.40 Statewide Minimum Wage as Businesses Face Another Payroll Hike appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.