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.
By Bowdeya Tweh and Keith Benman
The Times (Munster, Indiana), Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News, July 24, 2009
Indiana's minimum wage is set to increase 70 cents per hour today, as the federal standard for what employers can pay their workers also increases.
The minimum wage, which rises to $7.25 from $6.55 per hour in Indiana, is part of the third installment of three scheduled annual increases agreed on in 2007. The first increase on July 24, 2007, hiked the federal minimum wage 70 cents to $5.85 per hour, according to the U.S. Labor Department.
By Pat Garofalo
Think Progress, The Wonk Room
Today, Fox News ran a segment on today’s minimum wage increase — which raises the minimum wage from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour — accompanied by a chyron stating “How The Hike Will Hurt.”
While not as egregious as Fox News, most media outlets today are presenting the minimum wage hike in a he said/she said manner, with workers happy to see an increase pitted against claims that the increase will result in lost jobs and higher unemployment.
By David Nicklaus
St. Louis Post Disptach, July 24, 2009
About 4.5 million American workers will see fatter paychecks starting today, but their good fortune is bad news for the rest of the economy.
With unemployment at 9.5 percent nationally, this is the worst possible time to be raising the minimum wage. A higher minimum wage may force struggling businesses to lay off workers or cut back their hours. It certainly makes them less likely to hire young, unskilled workers, who have been hit hard by this recession.
By Catherine Rampell
New York Times, Economix, July 23, 2009
Introductory economics generally teaches that the goal of all companies is to maximize their individual profits, all other greater social, moral and economic consequences be damned. But clearly the events of the last year have caused many people to question Econ 101 — including the idea that businesses shouldn’t care about anything besides the near-term bottom line.
By Kent Ross
Distributed by American Forum, July 23, 2009
— As a small business owner, I find that people expect me to grumble about the increase in the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour as of July 24. But I’m not grumbling. In fact, I think it should be raised further.
By Chelyen Davis
Free Lance Star (VA), July 23, 2009
Tomorrow, several million American workers will get a pay raise.
That's the day the federal minimum wage goes up to $7.25 an hour, from $6.55 per hour.
It's the final bump in a three-year phased-in increase for some of the nation's lowest-paid workers.
But this one comes during the worst economic recession in years. Unemployment nationally was at 9.5 percent for June, and the country has lost more than 3 million jobs in 2009 alone.
By Diane Stafford
The Kansas City Star, Jul. 23, 2009
The federal minimum wage rises today from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour, bringing with it controversy about whether the increase is good or bad for the economy.
The raise, which will affect 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 means $28 a week more.
“When you have low income, any kind of increase in your paycheck is a big help,” said Sharon Davis, a minimum wage earner who has a part-time clerical job.
By Al Lewis
A DOW JONES NEWSWIRES COLUMN, July 23, 2009
Business owners nationwide can’t wait until Friday when the federal minimum wage goes from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour.
That’s according to a group called “Business for a Shared Prosperity.”
This share-the-wealth agitator has assembled a colorful array of endorsements on its Web site, businessforafairminimumwage.org. It quotes Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) Chief Executive Jim Sinegal and even Adam Smith, the philosophical founder of capitalism.
By Diane Stafford
Kansas City Star, July 23, 2009. Also Sacramento Bee, New Jersey Record, Sun Journal (ME), more.
The federal minimum wage rises today from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour, bringing with it controversy about whether the increase is good or bad for the economy.
The raise, which will affect 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 means $28 a week more.
By Brian Brus
The Journal Record, July 23, 2009
OKLAHOMA CITY – Jamie Brown doesn’t like having to balance her employees’ salary increases against the company’s success in the current recession.
“If you are worrying about your bottom-line profit and you have a forced minimum wage raise, then you wonder, well, do I go ahead and give myself a raise, too? Or my salaried employees? Or do I wait until I see how this is going to affect my labor costs?” said Brown, the general manager of Earl’s Rib Palace in the Bricktown district near downtown Oklahoma City.
By Eric Lindquist
Leader-Telegram (WI), July 23, 2009
The nation's lowest-paid workers will get a raise Friday when the federal minimum wage climbs 10.7 percent to $7.25 an hour.
With the economy mired in recession, the boost couldn't come at a better time for the workers who will benefit, but business owners are worried the change will hurt their already-strained bottom lines.
North High School junior Jake Jenneman, who earns minimum wage working for a local fast-food restaurant, said the increase will be much appreciated.
New York Times Economix Blog, July 22, 2009
By Catherine Rampell, Economix Editor, crampell@nytimes.com
On Friday, the federal minimum wage will rise to $7.25 a hour, from $6.55. It has not gotten much attention in the news media lately (well, this was scheduled two years ago), but it has gotten a whole lot of attention in my e-mail in-box.
By Steve Giegerich
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 22, 2009
The federal minimum wage is scheduled to go from $6.55 to $7.25 on Friday, a pay bump for 4.5 million Americans and cause for conflicting opinions among various special interest groups.
In one corner, the Employment Policies Institute — fearful that the rising minimum wage salaries will compel small business owners to reduce payrolls — is asking lawmakers to put the increase on hold.