Federal Minimum Wage Raised 60 Cents to $6.55

The federal government raised minimum wage 60 cents on Thursday to make it $6.55, affecting 2 million Americans.

The wage increase, from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour, is the second of three annual increases required by a 2007 law. The new federal wage will take place on July 24. Next year's boost will bring the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour.

Last week, the Labor Department reported the fastest inflation since 1991, stating that it was five percent for June compared with a year earlier. Energy costs rapidly increased nearly 25 percent. Food prices rose more than five percent.

The new minimum wage is less than the inflation-adjusted 1997 level of $7.02, and far below the inflation-adjusted level of $10.06 from 40 years ago, according to a Labor Department inflation calculator.

Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have laws making the minimum wage higher than the new federal requirement.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger threaten to lower state employees' pay to the federal minimum wage if state legislators do not compromise on the state budget expediently.

Over 200,000 employees in California could get paid $6.55 per hour, $1.45 an hour less than California's minimum wage, if the solution for the state's $15.2 billion budget deficit is not solidified soon.

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