Up to 1.7 million Americans could get a raise today, thanks to the first bump in the federal minimum wage in 10 years -- from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour -- according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Or, the number could be more like 800,000, one economic think tank calculated, if you subtract all those in jobs not covered by the law -- a list that includes seasonal workers, farmhands, federal criminal investigators, home workers making wreaths, and seafarers on foreign vessels. The federal minimum wage will increase every July 24 over three years: to $5.85 an hour today, $6.55 next year, and $7.25 in 2009.
See "Minimum wage goes up; effect in Minnesota is minimal so far", H. J. Cummins, Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 23, 2007