Commentary: Texas' low-paying jobs aren't the whole story
Mitchell Schnurman | The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
As Gov. Rick Perry ramps up his campaign for the presidency, critics are seizing on the fact that the state has created hundreds of thousands of minimum-wage jobs during his tenure, including many without benefits.
Texas and Mississippi have the highest share of this low-paid workforce: 9.5 percent of all hourly employees were paid the minimum wage or less last year, compared with 6 percent of workers nationwide.
"If you want a bad job, go to Texas," state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, told The Huffington Post, a liberal-leaning news website.
HuffPo's Jason Cherkis took a shot at Texas' so-called economic miracle: "The miracle is that anyone would call minimum-wage jobs a miracle."