Minimum Wage to Rise by 70¢

Washington D.C. - July 23 - The nation's lowest-paid workers will soon find extra money in their pockets as the minimum wage rises 70¢ to $5.85 an hour on Tuesday, the first increase in a decade, according to the Associated Press.

It ends the longest span without a federal minimum-wage increase since the pay floor was enacted in 1938. The last increase came in September 1997, when President Clinton signed a bill raising the minimum 40¢ to $5.15 an hour.

Legislation signed by President Bush in May increases the wage 70¢ each summer until 2009, when all minimum-wage jobs will pay no less than $7.25 an hour.

Government figures show about 1.7 million people earned $5.15 or less in 2006.

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