Minimum Wage Increases to $7.25

The federal minimum wage, which is currrently $6.55 an hour, increases to $7.25 per hour this week. The increase of 70 cents an hour goes into effect on Friday, July 24, 2009. This is the last in a series of three scheduled minimum wage increases.

However, some states have higher minimum wages already, like California, where the minimum wage is $8.00 an hour. So, the main impact of the increase will be on workers whose home states follows the federal guidelines.

For a worker currently working a forty hour week and earning the federal minimum wage it's a .70/hour, $28/week, and $112/month raise. If you're not sure how the increase is going to impact your paycheck, there are paycheck calculators you can use to help figure out what the increase will mean to you in dollars and cents.

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