Federal minimum Wage Increase Good For Workers

The federal minimum wage has increased from $5.85 per hour to $6.55 per hour, effective July 24, 2008.

In 2007, President Bush signed into law legislation to provide for a three-step increase in the federal minimum wage: to $5.85 per hour effective July 24, 2007; to $6.55 per hour effective July 24, 2008; and to $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009.

According to Boucher, a lawmaker, the increase in the minimum wage will increase $4,400 a year for workers who earn the minimum wage. “Americans who work hard and play by the rules should be able to earn enough to provide for their families,” Boucher said. “For 10 years, the minimum wage was frozen at $5.15 an hour, a wage far too low to provide for the needs of a family as gas prices, food costs and health insurance costs continue to rise. This represented the longest period in the history of the minimum wage law that minimum wage workers failed to receive an increased wage.”