Does paying workers more hurt business? A complete guide to the minimum wage.

Businesses like to say that minimum wage hikes force layoffs and push costs onto the consumer. Is that true?

Minimum Wage
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The minimum wage is on a roll. The latest victory came last week in New York City, where officials proposed hiking the minimum wage to $15 an hour for the city's fast food workers.

It's just one of many remarkable accomplishments for worker groups across the country, and it seems to be tapping into the zeitgeist. Two-thirds of Americans support a federal minimum wage hike, and the vast majority of Democrats support raising it to $10 or more. President Obama wants a national hike to $10.10 an hour. Hillary Clinton hasn't picked a dollar figure yet, but she's throwing her weight behind the New York City push.

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.