As expected, Colorado’s minimum wage will fall because of lower cost of living

August 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A University of California, Los Angeles economist has blamed former US President Herbert Hoover's pro-labour policies for Great Depression in 1929. "These findings suggest that the recession was three times worse - at a minimum - than it would otherwise have been, because of Hoover," said Lee E.

August 28th, 2009 Cost Plus reports smaller loss in 2QOAKLAND, Calif. — Specialty home retailer Cost Plus Inc.

August 19th, 2009 Colo. minimum wage may drop as living costs fallDENVER — Colorado's lowest-paid workers could make even less money next year. That's because the state has an adjustable minimum wage that may become the first in the nation to drop slightly along with the cost of living.

August 5th, 2009 Haiti lawmakers OK minimum wage hike after clashesPORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Lawmakers voted to more than double Haiti's minimum wage Tuesday night after long hours of debate and clashes between police and protesters, who complained they can't feed and shelter their families on the current pay of about $1.75 a day. The plan adopted fell short of the $5 wage demanded by the demonstrators, although it would more than double the minimum pay to about $3.75 a day.

August 4th, 2009 Haitian police clash with workers seeking pay hikePORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian police fired tear gas Tuesday at protesters who massed outside Parliament to demand an increase in the minimum wage, saying they are unable to feed and shelter their families on less than $2 a day. As legislators prepared to vote on the issue, some of the 2,000 protesters threw rocks at police and began ripping down flags of U.N.

July 30th, 2009 American Samoa gov. seeks help with minimum wagePAGO PAGO, American Samoa — The governor of American Samoa is traveling to Washington, D.C., in hopes of putting the brakes on federally mandated minimum wage increases in the U.S.

July 28th, 2009 Colorado's Douglas County ekes out job growthDENVER — New figures from the U.S. Department of Labor show Douglas County was the only large Colorado county to see employment growth from December 2007 to December 2008.

July 23rd, 2009 Labor secretary says wage hike will boost spendingWASHINGTON — Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says this week's increase in the minimum wage will generate an extra $5.5 billion in consumer spending over the next year. The federal minimum wage increases by 11 percent on Friday, from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour.

July 23rd, 2009 Minimum wage hike could threaten low earners' jobsATLANTA — A federal minimum wage increase that takes effect Friday could prolong the recession, some economists say, by forcing small businesses to lay off the same workers that the pay hike passed in better times was meant to help. The increase to $7.25 means 70 cents more an hour for the lowest-paid workers in the 30 states that have lower minimums or no minimum wage.

June 16th, 2009 British annual inflation falls to 2.2 pct in MayLONDON — Lower food costs and energy bills helped Britain's annual inflation rate in May fall to its lowest level since the start of 2008 despite a rise in the cost of imported goods due to the lower value of the pound, official figures showed Tuesday. The Office for National Statistics said consumer price inflation in the year to May fell to 2.2 percent from April's 2.3 percent.

June 15th, 2009 VA expands health care eligibility for nondisabledWASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department opened the doors of its health care system Monday to about 266,000 nondisabled veterans with moderate incomes, some of whom have been shut out of those benefits. The veterans eligible are from a category known as "Priority 8." They have no illnesses or injuries attributed to their military service, and they earn more than the average wage in their communities.

June 12th, 2009 Lawmakers want federal rules to cover home workersWASHINGTON — A group of Democratic senators on Thursday urged the Labor Department to reverse a Bush administration policy by extending federal wage and hour laws to home health care workers. Most domestic workers are covered by laws governing minimum wage and overtime pay, but home workers that care for the elderly and disabled have long been considered exempt.

June 12th, 2009 Labor Secretary ponders oversight of home workersWASHINGTON — Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said Friday she shares the concerns of lawmakers who want to apply federal wage and hour laws to an estimated 1.5 million home health-care workers. Her comments came a day after 15 Democratic senators signed a letter urging her to reverse a Bush administration policy that excluded domestic health workers from laws governing minimum wage and overtime pay.

May 8th, 2009 Productivity rebounds while wage pressures easeWASHINGTON — The government says productivity rebounded in the first three months of this year while wage pressures eased, both outcomes reflecting the country's deep recession. The Labor Department said Thursday that productivity, the key ingredient to rising living standards, grew at a 0.8 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter, slightly better than the 0.6 percent increase that economists had expected.

May 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With 93 percent of India's workforce in the informal sector, an official panel has recommended the extension of the rural job guarantee programme to urban areas and called for a national minimum social security net. The National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector has also called for a country-wide minimum wage and the laying down of minimum conditions of work to create a social floor for the vast segment of unprotected workers in the country.