evidence: For the 2010 group, employment in the occupations increased by an average of 1.8% the year after the minimum wage increased. The increase in food preparation and service employment was 0.6 percentage points faster than that of the same occupations in the states that did not raise the minimum wage. For the 2015 group, food preparation and service employment increased by an average of 3.8% the year after the minimum wage increased. That increase was 1.1 percentage points faster than the increase in food preparation and service employment in states that did not raise the minimum wage. [...] Raising the minimum wage can have an array of effects that are not reflected in employment data by state. Experts have analyzed the effect that minimum wage increases have on hours worked by employees, employee productivity, job creation, production, and forms of non-cash compensation such as health insurance. Other possible effects are changes to company pricing strategies, working conditions, higher-wage worker compensation, and benefit eligibility for low-income households.