President Obama is proposing an increase in the federal minimum wage to $9 per hour from the current $7.25 in his State of the Union speech.
The increase would affect 15 million workers “so an honest day’s work pays more,” the White House said.
At the current rate of $7.25 an hour, a full-time minimum wage worker makes $14,500 a year.
The minimum wage was last raised in July 2009 as part of a three-step increase from a law approved in 2007.
Some states have adopted minimum wages higher than the federal rate
