By Angela Carter
New Haven Register, 7/28/09

The minimum wage across the nation went to $7.25 per hour Friday from $6.55 an hour, but the extent to which it boosts the spending power of lower-income earners or siphons off those jobs remains to be seen, experts say.

Connecticut business owners are paying close attention to trends in the federal minimum wage even though they are paying $8 per hour, with an increase to $8.25 in January 2010.

Corp Magazine, July 28, 2009
Business Buzz - Boston, Mass.

Business Owners Welcome Minimum Wage Increase
Raising minimum wage will help economy, say national business leaders and small business owners from states affected by July 24 increase

July 21, 2009, Boston, MA - Business owners across the nation are welcoming the July 24 increase in the federal minimum wage from $6.55 to $7.25. National business leaders and small business owners in states where workers are getting a raise say the increase will boost consumer buying power and promote economic recovery.

Media Matters, July 27, 2009

SUMMARY: Reporting on the minimum wage increase, NBC's Amy Robach stated, "Some small business owners criticized the timing of the increase, saying it's a burden in a weak economy." But Robach ignored evidence that the increase will stimulate the economy.

Some firms cut staff to cover payroll costs

By Diane Stafford and Tony Pugh
McClatchy Newspapers, July 26, 2009

The federal minimum wage rose from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour on Friday, bringing with it controversy about whether the increase is good or bad for the economy.

The raise, which affects about 4 million workers nationally, is the third and final increase mandated by Congress in 2007.

For a full-time minimum wage earner, the bump up means $28 a week more.

By Leader staff
Shawano Leader (WI), July 24, 2009

The nation’s lowest-paid workers will get a raise today when the federal minimum wage climbs 10.7 percent to $7.25 an hour.

“It’s about time,” said Cliff Thompson of Shawano, who works at a local fast food restaurant. “The previous amount we were getting paid was a joke.”

With the economy mired in recession, the boost couldn’t come at a better time for the workers who will benefit.

Audio
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/07/24/pm_minimum_wa…

Text

KAI RYSSDAL: The federal minimum wage went up today. It was a 70 cent bump to $7.25 an hour. Workers at the bottom end of the pay scale in 31 states will be getting raises. The other 19 states already had minimums higher than the new federal standard. The increase had been in the works for a while. It's the last of a three-step adjustment that was started years ago. It just happens to be coming in the middle of the worst recession in 75 years.

Marketplace's Jeff Tyler reports.

Shreveport Times, July 24, 2009

The federal minimum wage will go to $7.25 an hour today from its current level of $6.55.

Louisiana is one of five states with no minimum wage. Some thoughts from financial analysts and others:

Against the grain

of current economy

The hike in the minimum wage is "going against the grain" of the economy, and the job market might not be able to absorb the mandated increase.

By Holly Sklar
Distributed by McClatchy Tribune News Service, 7/23/09
Copyright 2009 Holly Sklar

Are you better off than you were 40 years ago? Not if you're a minimum wage worker.

It would take $9.92 today to match the buying power of the minimum wage at its peak in 1968, the year Martin Luther King died fighting for living wages for sanitation workers.

In today's dollars, the 1968 hourly minimum wage adds up to $20,634 a year working full time. The new federal minimum wage of $7.25 comes to just $15,080. That's $ 5,554 in lost wages.

By Michael E. Kanell
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 24, 2009

Extra 70 cents will put squeeze on employers 
at wrong time, some critics say

The much-debated increase in the minimum wage takes effect today, putting a bit more money in the pockets of low-paid workers but adding to employers’ costs at a time when many are struggling.

In the last of three annual boosts mandated by Congress in 2007, the minimum for most workers today rises 70 cents to $7.25 an hour. The increases were the first since 1997.

BUSINESS FOR A FAIR MINIMUM WAGE (July 21, 2009, Boston, MA) — Business owners across the nation are welcoming the July 24 increase in the federal minimum wage from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour. National business leaders and small business owners in states where workers are getting a raise say the increase will boost consumer buying power and promote economic recovery.

By Sharon Smith
Patriot News (PA), July 24, 2009

Few midstate workers make minimum wage, but if you are among the few who do, you get a bump in pay today.

The federally mandated minimum wage rises to $7.25 today, up from $6.55 per hour.

The Keystone State's minimum wage rose to $7.15 in 2007, so the move is likely to have a small effect on workers living in the Capital region.

Still, some say the higher minimum wage could help the local and national economies.

By Ameerah Cetawayo
Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY), July 24, 2009

CAPITAL REGION — In New York state, 250,000 workers will get a small boost in their paycheck beginning today, as the minimum wage increases from $7.15 to $7.25 an hour, according to the state Department of Labor.

Most New York employers pay more than minimum wage already, according to DOL spokeswoman Jean Genovese.

Kansas City InfoZine, July 24, 2009

Nearly 1,000 business owners and executives including Costco CEO Jim Sinegal, U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce CEO Margot Dorfman and small business owners from all 50 states, have signed a statement supporting the current minimum wage increase.
www.businessforafairminimumwage.org

By Chris Graham
Augusta Free Press (VA), July 24, 2009

The local Chamber of Commerce will tell you that the increase in the federal minimum wage that goes into effect today will spell doom for business and industry. Another perspective is that putting more wages in the pockets of working-class families will boost consumer buying power and push the economic recovery that is slowly taking shape into action.

Economists say timing is bad

By Bonna Johnson
The Tennessean, July 24, 2009

In a time of rising joblessness across most of Tennessee, an increase in the federal minimum wage today could further send more people into unemployment and even prolong the recession, according to some small-business owners and economists.