By Brian Tumulty and Larry Bivins • Gannett Washington bureau • July
24, 2009

 

WASHINGTON — An estimated 196,000 Wisconsin workers will get a raise
today when the federal minimum wage goes up to $7.25 an hour.

About 100,000 state workers will get a 70-cent increase, according to
an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal-leaning
Washington think tank.

An additional 96,000 workers who earn slightly more than the current
minimum wage, $6.55 an hour, are expected to see their paychecks go
up, too.

“Employers often will give those who had been earning slightly above
the minimum wage a raise to keep the hierarchy in place, where
experienced workers earn more than the entry level,” said Kai Filion,
a research at the policy institute.

Nationally, the wage increase will cover an estimated 4.5 million
workers in 31 states. The District of Columbia and 19 states will not
be affected because they already have minimum wages that are higher
than the new national standard. The state of Washington has the
highest at $8.55 an hour.

The latest minimum wage increase is the third and final pay boost
resulting from legislation Congress passed two years ago when the
minimum was $5.15.

“For minimum-wage workers and their families, the raise will make it
easier to make ends meet,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer,
D-Md. “And our economy will benefit from the increased consumer
spending that will result, which, in turn, can help preserve jobs.”

Today’s increase comes at a time of rising unemployment amid a
recession. The national unemployment rate is at 9.5 percent. In
Wisconsin, 9.2 percent of the work force is unemployed.

With the wage increase, the Wisconsin family of a full-time minimum
wage earner would see its monthly income increase by about $112,
according to the Department of Labor. That is about a week’s worth of
groceries for an average family of four.