what year was minimum wage purchasing power the highest
Adjusted for inflation, that would be worth $4.07 today. The minimum wage had its lowest buying power in 1948, when it was worth about $3.81 in today's dollars. It had its highest buying power in 1968, when it was worth about $10.56. At $7.25 in 2012, our current minimum wage is in the middle of those two extremes. President Obama's proposal to raise the minimum wage to $9 would put it back to a value last seen in the early 1980s.