A Georgia worker earning minimum wage now has to work more than an hour to buy a pound of lean ground beef.
In August, a pound of lean ground beef averaged $8.30 across the South, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, making it $1.05 more than what most Georgia minimum-wage workers earn in an hour.
Federal minimum wage hasn’t increased since 2009
Georgia law still sets the state minimum wage at $5.15 an hour. At this rate, every kind of ground beef costs more than an hour of work. However, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 applies to nearly all workers, the Georgia Department of Labor reports, offering a small margin of relief.
At that earning rate, a Georgia worker would have to work an hour and nine minutes to pay for a pound of lean ground beef at the Southern average of $8.30…