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This is why increasing the federal minimum wage is important.
Dean Baker:
<...>
The one genuinely encouraging piece of news in the February employment data is an uptick in wage growth. Over the last three months, average hourly earnings rose at a 2.85% annual rate, compared to the prior three months. If this continues, it would imply that workers are actually seeing real wage gains. Unfortunately, this increase was likely driven by some state minimum wage hikes, and by the sort of random movements that causes these data to fluctuate erratically. But this is an item that the optimists can look to for hope.
- more -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/08/us-unemployment-rate-shortlived-low
The one genuinely encouraging piece of news in the February employment data is an uptick in wage growth. Over the last three months, average hourly earnings rose at a 2.85% annual rate, compared to the prior three months. If this continues, it would imply that workers are actually seeing real wage gains. Unfortunately, this increase was likely driven by some state minimum wage hikes, and by the sort of random movements that causes these data to fluctuate erratically. But this is an item that the optimists can look to for hope.
- more -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/08/us-unemployment-rate-shortlived-low
Unless pay at the bottom changes, low-income workers are not going to see their wages go up.
Pelosi Backs Bill That Would Raise Minimum Wage To $10 An Hour
By Travis Waldron
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called on Republican House leadership to take up legislation recently introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) that would raise the federal minimum wage above $10 an hour. Miller and Harkin announced the bill, which would set the minimum wage at $10.10 per hour and index it to inflation so it raised automatically thereafter, this week.
Pelosi cited recent stock gains that pushed markets to record highs even as worker incomes remain stagnant as her reason for backing the legislation, The Hill reports:
“If we are going to honor our commitment to the middle class,” she said, “we have to reflect that intention in our public policy.”
Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would bring it in line with its historical borrowing power, which peaked in 1968, and indexing it to inflation would prevent Congress from having to repeatedly raise it to keep up with rising costs. The current wage would be $10.40 had it been indexed to inflation in 1968.
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/03/07/1687731/pelosi-minimum-wage/
By Travis Waldron
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called on Republican House leadership to take up legislation recently introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) that would raise the federal minimum wage above $10 an hour. Miller and Harkin announced the bill, which would set the minimum wage at $10.10 per hour and index it to inflation so it raised automatically thereafter, this week.
Pelosi cited recent stock gains that pushed markets to record highs even as worker incomes remain stagnant as her reason for backing the legislation, The Hill reports:
“This week, we saw something quite remarkable, the stock market soaring to record heights. At the same time, we see productivity keeping pace,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. “But we don’t see income for America’s middle class rising. In fact, it’s been about the same as since the end of the Clinton years.” <...>
“If we are going to honor our commitment to the middle class,” she said, “we have to reflect that intention in our public policy.”
Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would bring it in line with its historical borrowing power, which peaked in 1968, and indexing it to inflation would prevent Congress from having to repeatedly raise it to keep up with rising costs. The current wage would be $10.40 had it been indexed to inflation in 1968.
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/03/07/1687731/pelosi-minimum-wage/
Two Democrats To Introduce Bill Raising The Minimum Wage Above $10
By Travis Waldron
Two Democrats plan to introduce legislation today that would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, more than a dollar over the proposal President Obama made during February’s State of the Union address. The current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and has not been raised since 2009 as part of legislation signed by President George W. Bush.
The legislation backed by Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin (D) and California Rep. George Miller (D) would, like Obama’s proposal, index the minimum wage to inflation so that it keeps up with the cost of living over time. Harkin and Miller told the Huffington Post that raising the minimum wage was “a matter of justice” for low-income workers:
“When you see what’s happened to CEO salaries and compensation since the 1970s, and what’s happened to the minimum wage, it’s just startling,” Harkin said. “We can’t continue on this way. We need a higher minimum wage.”
“People do see the minimum wage as a matter of justice for people who don’t have the ability to bargain for decent wages,” Miller said. “And that’s all this is — it’s a minimum wage. Nobody’s walking away from here rich.”
As Harkin noted, executive salaries have skyrocketed over the last three decades, rising 127 times faster than worker pay. Corporate profits have also risen to record levels, but the minimum wage hasn’t kept up, even as low-wage jobs are becoming more prevalent after the Great Recession. The minimum wage reached its peak buying power in 1968; to equal that buying power today, it would have to be $9.92 an hour. Had it been indexed to inflation in 1968, it would be $10.40 an hour today.
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http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/03/05/1673141/harkin-miller-minimum-wage/
By Travis Waldron
Two Democrats plan to introduce legislation today that would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, more than a dollar over the proposal President Obama made during February’s State of the Union address. The current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and has not been raised since 2009 as part of legislation signed by President George W. Bush.
The legislation backed by Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin (D) and California Rep. George Miller (D) would, like Obama’s proposal, index the minimum wage to inflation so that it keeps up with the cost of living over time. Harkin and Miller told the Huffington Post that raising the minimum wage was “a matter of justice” for low-income workers:
“When you see what’s happened to CEO salaries and compensation since the 1970s, and what’s happened to the minimum wage, it’s just startling,” Harkin said. “We can’t continue on this way. We need a higher minimum wage.”
“People do see the minimum wage as a matter of justice for people who don’t have the ability to bargain for decent wages,” Miller said. “And that’s all this is — it’s a minimum wage. Nobody’s walking away from here rich.”
As Harkin noted, executive salaries have skyrocketed over the last three decades, rising 127 times faster than worker pay. Corporate profits have also risen to record levels, but the minimum wage hasn’t kept up, even as low-wage jobs are becoming more prevalent after the Great Recession. The minimum wage reached its peak buying power in 1968; to equal that buying power today, it would have to be $9.92 an hour. Had it been indexed to inflation in 1968, it would be $10.40 an hour today.
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/03/05/1673141/harkin-miller-minimum-wage/
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