Tuesday, September 3, 1963: U.S. minimum wage

     Several million workers are getting pay increases. This could mean pressure for higher prices. It could mean faster economic growth through more spending money circulating quickly. It could mean greater cost-trimming efforts such as turning to machines to replace man or woman labor.

     But whatever the future may bring, one thing's for sure. Today is a happy one for a lot of workers.

     Some 2.6 million low-paid workers are due for a wage boost today because the legal minimum wage goes up to $1.25 an hour from $1.15. Even more persons perhaps expect to benefit indirectly because their differential tends to rise as the lowest paid job does.

     -- Associated Press, September 3 (full story here: @)

Note: $1.25 is about $9.50 in 2013 dollars; the current U.S. minimum wage is $7.25. 

* "History of Federal Minimum Wage Rates Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938-2009" (U.S. Department of Labor): @

* Inflation calculator (Bureau of Labor Statistics): @

* "Economic Forces in the United States" (Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 1963): @

* "Income of Families and Persons in the United States: 1963" (Census Bureau): @

* "The Quest for a Living Wage: The History of the Federal Minimum Wage Program" (Willis J. Nordlund, 1997): @ 

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