ACTING SECRETARY OF LABOR'S STATEMENT ON THE MINIMUM WAGE

FROM: U.S. DEPATMENT OF LABOR
Statement by acting Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris on America’s workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics has released a report titled "Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2012." The report shows that 75.3 million workers in the United States age 16 and over were paid at hourly rates, representing 59 percent of all wage and salary workers. Among those paid by the hour, 1.6 million earned exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. About 2 million had wages below the federal minimum.

The report also shows that nearly one-half of those earning at or below the federal minimum wage is at least 25 years old, and women make up nearly two-thirds of those earning at or below the federal minimum wage. More than a third of those earning at or below the current federal minimum wage is working full-time. Finally, 15 percent of those earning at or below the federal minimum wage is African-American, and one-fifth is Latino or Hispanic.

Acting Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris has issued the following statement about the report:

"Workers earning the federal minimum wage have not had a raise in nearly four years. As the report makes clear, many are working adults with full-time jobs, and we know that some low-wage workers are holding down more than one job.

"It is an outrage that someone who works full time should have to raise his or her family in poverty. Ensuring hard work is rewarded is the right thing to do for these workers and our economy. That's why the president has called for raising the federal minimum wage to $9.00 per hour by 2015, and indexing it to inflation thereafter. The BLS report looked at only those currently earning at or below the federal minimum wage. According to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, raising the federal minimum wage will result in nearly 15 million low-wage workers getting a raise in their take-home pay. That money will be spent locally at the grocery store, to buy school supplies and clothing for children, to pay rent and utility bills, and in many other ways to support families.

"In fiscal year 2012, the department's Wage and Hour Division found minimum wage violations in more than 12,500 investigations — more than a third of all cases concluded by the agency that fiscal year. These cases resulted in $35.2 million in back minimum wages for more than 107,000 workers, more than twice what we recovered in similar investigations in fiscal year 2009. Unfortunately, our ability to enforce the law and protect our most vulnerable workers will be threatened if Congress fails to act to avert the coming sequester.

"Over the next few weeks, our economy, national security and services that are important to middle-class families will be affected by automatic, arbitrary and irresponsible cuts if Congress fails to act. The president has offered a compromise plan. Congress must act immediately."

U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 22, 2012

FROM: U.S. DEPATMENT OF LABOR

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA


In the week ending December 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 350,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 362,000. The 4-week moving average was 356,750, a decrease of 11,250 from the previous week's revised average of 368,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent for the week ending December 15, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 15 was 3,206,000, a decrease of 32,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,238,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,219,000, a decrease of 24,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,243,750.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 440,887 in the week ending December 22, an increase of 39,458 from the previous week. There were 497,689 initial claims in the comparable week in 2011.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent during the week ending December 15, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,254,214, an increase of 9,650 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.9 percent and the volume was 3,613,414.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending December 8 was 5,475,708, an increase of 73,279 from the previous week. There were 7,231,771 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2011.

Extended Benefits were only available in New York during the week ending December 8.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,680 in the week ending December 15, a decrease of 374 from the prior week. There were 2,574 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 257 from the preceding week.

There were 21,095 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending December 8, a decrease of 245 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 40,561, an increase of 1,081 from the prior week.

States reported 2,100,243 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending December 8, an increase of 3,698 from the prior week. There were 2,926,135 persons claiming EUC in the comparable week in 2011. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 8 were in Alaska (6.2), New Jersey (3.9), Pennsylvania (3.8), Puerto Rico (3.7), California (3.5), Montana (3.5), Oregon (3.5), Connecticut (3.3), Nevada (3.3), Illinois (3.2), and Wisconsin (3.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 15 were in Florida (+5,080), Kentucky (+1,009), Mississippi (+651), Iowa (+646), and Indiana (+549), while the largest decreases were in California (-6,867), New Jersey (-5,101), Pennsylvania (-3,412), New York (-2,938) and Michigan (-2,889).