What percentage has the minimum wage decreased or increased in the past thirty years (accounting for inflation) in the USA?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: The Bureau of Labor Statistics historical table of the Consumer Price Index [ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/cpi/cpiai.txt]–probably the best overall indicator of inflation, especially for those on minimum wage–was 45.6 in October, 1973, and 185.0 in October, 2003. That is a change of 405%. During the same period, calculating the “minimum wage” is problematic, because it has evolved to include many different categories. For the sake of argument, let’s use the basic standard, which went from $1.60 in 1973 to $5.15 in 2003, or and increase of close to 320%. If the 1973 MW had kept pace with the CPI, it would now be about $6.48.