Federal and state laws enact minimum wage increase, beginning Jan. 1

By Jan. 1, the federal level of $7.25 for minimum wage will be increased in at least 13 states. USA Today said that this long-awaited wage increase will relieve millions of workers from wages that keep them starving. By the end of 2014, nine more states are expected to raise their levels of minimum wage.

According to a CNN poll, the expected rise in minimum wage will reach these projections: Arizona ($7.90), Colorado ($8.00), Connecticut ($8.00), Florida ($7.93), Missouri ($7.50), Montana ($7.90), New Jersey ($8.25), New York ($8.00), Ohio ($7.95), Oregon ($9.10), Rhode Island ($8.00), Vermont ($8.73) and Washington ($9.32).

President Obama said that the issue must be resolved, because the current minimum wage stands below that of President Truman's term. Michael Saltsman, a research fellow at the Employment Policies Institute, said, “If your costs are going up and you can’t raise prices, you have to find a way to produce the same product at a lower cost, ” according to USA Today.

CNN reported the national average salary for fast-food workers at $9 per hour. McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King employees are pushing for $15 an hour. Wal-Mart workers rally for strikes and say they cannot live on minimum wage. Senate Democrats propose to raise the national minimum wage to $10.10.

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