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About 7 million low-income workers in 23 states will enjoy pay raises this year, thanks to minimum wage increases that range from 12 cents to $1 per hour. And six of those 23 – Arkansas, Hawaii, Maryland, Nebraska, South Dakota, and West Virginia – will be above the federal rate of $7.25 per hour for the very first time.

Six others increasing this year already had minimum wage above the federal rate (Alaska, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont). Annual minimum wage increases occur automatically in nine other states (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington) based on rates of inflation.

Two other states and Washington, D.C. will have increases later this year, as well. Delaware’s new minimum wage goes into effect in June, Washington D.C. starts in July, and Minnesota’s new rate goes into effect in August.

The positive effects of these wage increases go beyond just the workers. According to research by the Economic Policy Institute:

“(R)aising the minimum wage would provide immediate benefits not only to affected workers (whose incomes would rise), but to the broader economy, as well. Research over the past two decades has shown that, despite skeptics? claims, modest increases in the minimumwage have little to no negative impact on jobs. In fact, under current labor market conditions, where tepid consumer demand is a major factor holding businesses back from expanding their payrolls, raising the minimum wage can provide a catalyst for new hiring.”

In its Dec. 2013 “Briefing Paper,” EPI projected that raising minimum wage to $10.10 would boost the annual GDP, increase economic activity by $22.1 billion, and generate 85,000 new jobs.

President Obama requested that Congress increase minimum wage to that same $10.10 rate in his 2014 State of Union address, as well. While Congress has not complied, the president himself raised minimum wage to that rate for all federal contractors in an executive order.

These increases bring the number of states with minimum wage levels above the federal rate to 29. Five southern states – Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee – still have no minimum wage, however.

Federal minimum wage was first established in 1938 by President Roosevelt.

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