Support for $10.10 Minimum Wage
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Americans strongly favor boosting the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour but oppose raising it above that, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.
In the survey, 63% supported a rise to $10.10 from the current $7.25 rate. Senate Democrats have proposed an increase of that size and it is supported by President Barack Obama.
In the poll, 43% said they backed an increase to $12.50 an hour. Only 28% backed a $15 wage—the rate sought by union-linked demonstrators at fast-food restaurants across the country.
Democrats are likely to make the rate, and expected resistance from the GOP, an issue in the 2014 elections. Mr. Obama called for a wage boost last week to help narrow economic inequality.
Opponents say it would prompt businesses to shed jobs or slow hiring. “The minimum wage destroys entry-level jobs and is damaging to the economy,” said Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business.
Support for the $10.10 rate was broad, including 61% of those earning $75,000 or more and 68% of those earning $30,000 or less. The survey found 77% of Democrats supported that rate, as did 47% of Republicans.
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