Money, it's a gas, but keep your hands off of my stash..

Minimum wage earners are getting an 11% raise tomorrow. It jumps from $6.55 an hour to $7.25. The workers I interviewed were thrilled because they can really use the money. It's hard to raise a family on $7.25 an hour. Many economists say the wage hike is just moving money from one pocket to the other and it will actually end up hurting job seekers. Here is the theory: If you have to give a bunch of people a raise, you are unlikely to hire more people. An SMU economist told me the raise comes at a bad time (read bad economy). The national unemployment rate is now 9.5%. Some say the wage hike will add to that number. Employers, already short on cash may wind up saying, keep your hands off of my stash.