Use the statutory rate that applied to the worker
The Department of Labor table does not show one uniform rate for every worker in every year. Amendments extended FLSA coverage to additional industries, and some newly covered groups initially had different rates. A historical claim should identify the applicable column rather than lifting a number without its scope.
For a broad educational example, $1.60 in February 1968 is the familiar rate for workers covered by the original Act. State law may have required more, and exempt or uncovered work requires separate research.
| Effective date | Selected federal rate | Context |
|---|---|---|
| October 1938 | $0.25/hour | Original FLSA coverage |
| February 1968 | $1.60/hour | Original-Act and 1961-amendment columns |
| January 1981 | $3.35/hour | Unified covered rate |
| July 2009 | $7.25/hour | Current federal statutory rate in the DOL history table |
Use CPI to put the wage into today’s money
Putting the 1968 rate into today’s money gives an easy hourly comparison. It does not say what employers would pay for the same job now.
For weekly or annual illustrations, state the assumed hours. Multiplying by 40 hours or 2,080 hours is a scenario, not proof that every minimum-wage worker had full-time, year-round employment.
- Keep the amount paid then and its value today in separate columns
- State the CPI year or month convention
- State assumed hours before showing weekly or annual totals
- Do not replace state minimum-wage research with the federal rate
A wage adjusted for inflation does not show full affordability
A CPI-adjusted wage answers how the broad consumer price level changed. Rent, medical care, tuition, child care, transportation, and taxes can move differently, so a household affordability analysis needs those costs and the worker's location.
The most accurate conclusion is narrow: CPI lets us compare statutory hourly amounts after allowing for the general rise in consumer prices. It does not by itself show whether a worker could rent the same home, support the same household, or receive the same nonwage benefits.