By Robert Higgs
Cleveland Plain Dealer, Jan 4, 2024. Syndicated by Tribune Content Agency News Service.
Higher minimum wages that kicked into effect with the start of 2024 will boost minimum hourly pay in some states as high as $16, benefiting as many as 10 million workers. ... The federal minimum wage, meanwhile, remains at $7.25 an hour, unchanged since 2009. Twenty states, mostly in the South and Midwest, also have that baseline rate as their state minimum wage.
“While the federal minimum wage falls further and further behind the cost of living at just $7.25 an hour, state increases are vital for workers, businesses and communities,” Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, said in a statement to CBS News. ...