Plus minimum wage(thats if you can get employed/haven't been laid off fired yet) is going to be a whole $6.55 for all covered, nonexempt workers as of July 24, 2008.
"The unemployment rate rose from 4.8 to 5.1 percent in March, and nonfarm
payroll employment continued to trend down (-80,000), the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the past
3 months, payroll employment has declined by 232,000. In March, employment
continued to fall in construction, manufacturing, and employment services,
while health care, food services, and mining added jobs. Average hourly
earnings rose by 5 cents, or 0.3 percent, over the month.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
The number of unemployed persons increased by 434,000 to 7.8 million in
March, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage point to 5.1 per-
cent. Since March 2007, the number of unemployed persons has increased by
1.1 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 0.7 percentage point.
(See table A-1.)
Over the month, unemployment rates rose for adult men (to 4.6 percent),
adult women (4.6 percent), and Hispanics (6.9 percent). The jobless rates
edged up for blacks (to 9.0 percent) and whites (4.5 percent), while the
rate for teenagers (15.8 percent) was essentially unchanged. The unemploy-
ment rate for Asians was 3.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables
A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
In March, the number of persons unemployed because they lost jobs increased
by 300,000 to 4.2 million. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed
job losers has increased by 914,000. (See table A-8.)" from
About.com: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Linear Mode
