The economic boom of the 1990s is rightly noted for lifting the wages of the vast
majority of Illinois workers. But for all its force, the boom failed to reverse the long-term
decline in the spending power of low-income households, particularly those reliant on
minimum and near-minimum wage earners. Although the nominal value of the federal
minimum wage is at an all-time high of $5.15 per hour, failure to adjust it for inflation
has led real hourly wages of minimum and near-minimum wage workers to erode to a
level near their all- time low.
Sharon Mastracci
Raising and Maintaining the Value of the State Minimum Wage: An Economic Impact Study of Illinois
Persistent Unemployment in Illinois: The Case For Reauthorizing Federal Temporary Extended Unemploment Compensation Benefits
November 2003 marked two years of recovery for the U.S. economy. Government reports have trumpeted the good news: growth in the gross domestic product reached its highest level in nearly two decades, businesses are investing again, and exports edged up slightly.