Minimum wage hike goes into effect today

WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation’s lowest-paid workers will soon find extra money in their pockets as the minimum wage rises 70 cents to $5.85 an hour today, the first increase in a decade.

It ends the longest span without a federal minimum wage increase since the pay floor was enacted in 1938. The last previous increase came in September 1997, when President Bill Clinton signed a bill raising the minimum 40 cents to $5.15 an hour.

Legislation signed by President George W. Bush in May increases the wage 70 cents each summer until 2009, when all minimum wage jobs will pay no less than $7.25 an hour. Government figures show about 1.7 million people earned $5.15 or less in 2006.

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