WASHINGTON (AP) -- Thursday is the day about 2 million Americans get a raise.

That's when the federal minimum wage goes up 70 cents an hour. The raise -- from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour -- is the second of three annual increases required by a 2007 law.

The bad news may be that higher gas and food prices will likely swallow up that extra cash. Energy costs have soared nearly 25 percent. The price of food is up more than 5 percent.

Then again, there's always next year: that's when another hike brings the federal minimum to $7.25 an hour.

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