The federal minimum wage is $6.55 per hour effective July 24, 2008; and $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. Many states also have minimum wage laws. In cases where an employee is subject to both state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher minimum wage.
U.S. Department of Labor - Employment Standards Administration (ESA) - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - Compliance Assistance-Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Unemployment rate for July, 2008: 5.7%
Unemployment in July 2008, The Editor's Desk

Unemployment rate for January, 2009: 7.6%
Employment Situation Summary

"In nominal dollars, there will be a 41% increase in the minimum wage, from $5.15 per hour in 2007, to $7.25 per hour in 2009. In real, inflation-adjusted dolars, it will be a 25.5% increase, and will be the largest 2-year increase in the real minimum wage in at least 50 years (see chart below). And this HAS to have an adverse effect on employment of teenage workers." CARPE DIEM: Is Min. Wage Behind the .50% Jobless Rate Jump?

Yes, I believe that the unemployment rate will definitely follow once the new minimum wage is enacted. Stands to reason that employers not wanting to pay the going rate will cut back employees.

A higher minimum wage puts upward pressure on the entire wage structure, which is the real reason that unions support it. If you tax something or increase its cost, you end up with less demand for that thing. Labor is just another commodity subject to market principles. The more it costs ,the less demand there is for it.

So then, we can conclude that liberals are encouraging and promoting unemployment for teenagers and less-qualified workers.

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Originally Posted by George_1950

So then, we can conclude that liberals are encouraging and promoting unemployment for teenagers and less-qualified workers.

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Hello George:

We could...

As long as we take into consideration that conservatives are for policies that cause jobs to move overseas. That, in turn, causes the ranks of minimum wage earners to be swelled by displaced factory workers.

Consequently, we could conclude that conservative policy promotes unemployment for teenagers and the less qualified workers.

Just thought you'd like to know.

excon

So, if employers are finding it difficult to pay the increased wage and hire less, who is left to do the work?

Is there money available to pay the increased minimum wage, somewhere? Do company executives get a raise every year as the cost of living inflates?

Why shouldn't minimum wage be what it was originally designed for, a man supporting his family, his wife home taking care of the kids?

What happened?

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello George:

We could.....

As long as we take into consideration that conservatives are for policies that cause jobs to move overseas. That, in turn, causes the ranks of minimum wage earners to be swelled by displaced factory workers.

Consequently, we could conclude that conservative policy promotes unemployment for teenagers and the less qualified workers....

excon

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Conservatives are in, and have been in, a minority; therefore, it is a majority that favor businesses moving overseas, which is actually common sense. When we lose that common sense, we will be headed into the next war; it will not be like Iraq.

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Originally Posted by George_1950

Conservatives are in, and have been in, a minority;

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Hello again, George:

Hmmmmm?? I musta missed 6 outa the last 8 years.

excon

I keep hearing about Republicans sending jobs overseas but I don't ever see the evidence. Makes for a good talking point but that's about all. If that were the case, then wouldn't unemployment have risen dramatically over the entire 8 years of the Bush administration? All those employed Americans had to be working somewhere weren't they?

Increased minimum wage will mean I have to pay more for my burger and fries.

I have a theory that I will throw out there. When the govt. tells an employer how much he has to pay, then that employer views it as what SHOULD be paid. In other words, in many cases wages that might be higher, based on performance, are LOWERED to the minium.
Just as price controls will never work, minimum waqe laws do not actually work either. Both are artificial efforts of government to control what it has no business being involved with in the first place.
As Tom pointed out above, the move is simply inflationary.

Quote:

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So, if employers are finding it difficult to pay the increased wage and hire less, who is left to do the work?

Is there money available to pay the increased minimum wage, somewhere? Do company executives get a raise every year as the cost of living inflates?

Why shouldn't minimum wage be what it was originally designed for, a man supporting his family, his wife home taking care of the kids?

What happened?

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Not sure what the purpose of minimum wage was ;but certainly it wasn't intended for a working man to support wife home and children.

Let's say I take the risk and sacrifice and save and maybe take out a loan against my house to open up a community hardware store(or any small retail store for that matter ) . Over time and many hours the business grows to a point where I can hire a few clerks working part time after school and weekends to stock the shelves and sweep the floors . But careful consideration and my personal business model says that is all I can afford in labor costs . Maybe one of them is a person who needs a second part time job or a mom who's children are off to school and she has a couple of hours to earn some extra spending money . These are the people who in reality are affected by any increases in a Federal or State mandated minimum wage.

Let's say that an increase now occures and makes my labor expenses cost prohibitive . Maybe As a business owner my personal income has been modest and in this environment sales have been flat.

Is it your position that I should then reduce my income as the owner of this business to ensure that the person I hired to sweep the floors remains employed ?

These are the employees that get screwed by these increases in the minimum wage . They should be cursing the name of the politician who wrongfully thought they were doing these workers a favor .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tomder55

not sure what the purpose of minimum wage was ;but certainly it wasn't intended for a working man to support wife home and children.

Let's say I take the risk and sacrifice and save and maybe take out a loan agianst my house to open up a community hardware store(or any small retail store for that matter ) . Over time and many hours the business grows to a point where I can hire a few clerks working part time after school and weekends to stock the shelves and sweep the floors . But careful consideration and my personal business model says that is all I can afford in labor costs . Maybe one of them is a person who needs a second part time job or a mom who's children are off to school and she has a couple of hours to earn some extra spending money . These are the people who in reality are affected by any increases in a Federal or State mandated minimum wage.

Let's say that an increase now occures and makes my labor expenses cost prohibitive . Maybe As a business owner my personal income has been modest and in this environment sales have been flat.

Is it your position that I should then reduce my income as the owner of this business to ensure that the person I hired to sweep the floors remains employed ?

These are the employees that get screwed by these increases in the minimum wage . They should be cursing the name of the politician who wrongfully thought they were doing these workers a favor .

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Thanks for addressing my question. My position had been based upon the idea that minimum wage was designed to provide support a family on one income. If that's not the case then why do we have a minimum wage? What/who started it, is it mostly only is hurtful to small business owners? Is it a pain to those who own monopolies?

The small business owner, if he was really keeping up with the times would charge $30. For a burger combo or a bag of fertilizer or, is that not competitive? If our national minimum wage had never come into being, would less dollars have been printed? Would we still be able to afford a house, the American dream on middle to lower income?

Sorry, that is not the topic. The topic is politics. I'd better shut up: shut up Simone.

"Minimum wages were first proposed as a way to control the proliferation of sweat shops in manufacturing industries. The sweat shops employed large numbers of women and young workers, paying them what were considered to be substandard wages. The sweatshop owners were thought to have unfair bargaining power over their workers, and a minimum wage was proposed as a means to make them pay "fairly." Over time, the focus changed to helping people, especially families, become more self sufficient. Today, minimum wage laws cover workers in most low-paid fields of employment.[3]

"The minimum wage has a strong social appeal, rooted in concern about the ability of markets to provide income equity for the least able members of the work force. An obvious solution to this concern is to redefine the wage structure politically to achieve a socially preferable distribution of income. Thus, minimum wage laws have usually been judged against the criterion of reducing poverty.[4]

Though the goals of the minimum wage are widely accepted as right and proper, there is great disagreement as to whether it is effective in attaining its goals. From the time of their introduction, minimum wage laws have been highly controversial politically, and have received much less support from economists than from the general public. Despite decades of experience and economic research, debates about the costs and benefits of minimum wages continue even today."
Minimum wage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia