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Minimum wage going up at worst possible time
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The nation's minimum wage is set to go up later this month. It couldn't come at a worse time.
Currently the nation's minimum wage is $6.55 an hour. It will increase to $7.25 on July 24. www.dol.gov/esa/whd/flsa/
Virginia's unemployment rate recently went up to 7 percent, which is still two percentage points lower than the national average. www.dailypress.com/business/dp-biz_hampton_roads_unemploymejul01,0,7810841.story
Although I generally support the minimum wage, I must admit that this increase comes at a particularly bad time. Businesses that were just hanging on by a thread could be forced to cut employees' hours to make up for this increase. In a worse case scenario, that 70 cents an hour could put some out of business or result in some employees losing their jobs.
The increase represents $28 a week and at least $112 a month for each full-time employee. Multiply that times additional employees and one can imagine the impact.
This increase will have a disparate impact on those who it intends to help: the working poor. A minimum wage increase was long overdue when Congress passed it in May 2007, but the timing of the second portion of this raise is bad. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/24/AR2007052402241.html
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