Minimum Wage Increases

Posted on July 24, 2009 by admin

• Minimum wages to rise in 31 states, By Tony Romm, July 24, 2009, Stateline.org: “Minimum-wage earners in 31 states and the District of Columbia can soon expect slightly bigger paychecks thanks to the third and final installment of a federal rate hike that raises the wage floor from $6.55 an hour to $7.25 an hour effective Friday (July 24).  The latest federal bump will enlarge roughly 4.5 million workers’ paychecks by about four cents an hour in some states to almost $1 an hour in others, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, D.C. that supported the increase…”
• Some attack timing of minimum wage hike, By V. Dion Haynes and Emma L. Carew, July 24, 2009, Washington Post: “The federal minimum wage will rise to $7.25 from $6.55 an hour Friday, an increase aimed at giving workers at carwashes, restaurants, child-care centers and retail shops more buying power but one that has sparked criticism from some small-business owners, who say it could threaten their ability to survive in a weak economy…”
• Minimum-wage boost has mixed benefits, By Jonathan B. Cox, July 23, 2009, Charlotte News and Observer: “At Bojangles’ restaurants operated by the company’s largest franchise, a chicken biscuit costs a little more these days. So does the sweet tea. Those higher prices are because the people behind the counter are getting paid a little more…”
• Minimum wage hike could threaten low earners’ jobs, By Dionne Walker (AP), July 23, 2009, Seattle Times: “A federal minimum wage increase that takes effect Friday could prolong the recession, some economists say, by forcing small businesses to lay off the same workers that the pay hike passed in better times was meant to help.  The increase to $7.25 means 70 cents more an hour for the lowest-paid workers in the 30 states that have lower minimums or no minimum wage. It also means higher costs for employers who feel they’ve already trimmed all their operating fat…”