WASHINGTON - August 31 - The following was released today by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

-- Nine Years of Neglect: Federal Minimum Wage Remains Unchanged for Ninth Straight Year, Falls to Lowest Level in More than Half a Century

The federal minimum wage has remained at $5.15 an hour since September 1, 1997. So as of September 1, 2006, the minimum wage will have remained the same for nine years, while the costs of medical care, gasoline, and other necessities have grown considerably. Further, the minimum wage has fallen exceptionally far below the wages of other workers, including the nation's CEOs.

-- This lack of Congressional action is approaching an unprecedented stretch. Since the inception of the minimum wage, there has been only one other period in which the minimum wage has remained unchanged for more than nine years. The minimum wage remained the same for the nine-year-and-three-month period from January 1981 until April 1990.

-- While since September 1997 the minimum wage has remained at $5.15 an hour, the cost-of-living has risen by 26 percent. After adjusting for inflation, the value of the minimum wage is at its lowest level since 1955.

-- The minimum wage now equals just 31 percent of the average wage for private sector, non-supervisory workers. This is the lowest share since at least the end of World War II.

This December 1st will mark nine years and three months since the last increase. Thus, unless Congress acts quickly, so that a federal minimum wage increase is actually put into place before then, on Dec. 2 the federal minimum wage will have remained at the same level for the longest period since it was established.

The full text of this report is posted to: http://www.cbpp.org/8-31-06mw.htm. The analysis was co-authored by Isaac Shapiro of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute.

Please contact Michelle Bazie in the Center's communications office at 202-408-1080 or bazie@cbpp.org with any questions or to speak with one of the authors.

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