歐巴馬近日不斷呼籲國會支持調漲最低工資，
但美國國會預算處日前公布一份報告預估，
此舉在讓民眾脫貧之時，也將衝擊就業市場，
再度讓最低工資成為政壇熱門議題。
美國國會預算處18日公布的一份報告預估，調漲最低工資將讓美國在2016年底前損失約50萬個就業機會，不過也能讓近1百萬人脫貧。美國總統歐巴馬將調漲工資列為今年的主要目標之一，這份報告再度點燃各界對此議題的爭辯。
根據民調，有近3／4美國民眾支持調漲最低工資，這個結果鼓舞了歐巴馬及其民主黨同僚，提議將現行最低時薪7.25美元（約新台幣217.5元）調漲至10.10美元（約新台幣303元），藉此推動數百萬低收入勞工停滯不前的薪資。
民主黨人的長期目標，是希望未來能按通膨率調漲最低工資，避免因低薪職位的薪資議題引發立法之爭。
對於國會預算處預估就業機會可能因此流失一事，歐巴馬政府表態否認，並援引眾多民間經濟學家的研究表示，調漲最低工資造成的負面影響極小，或根本不會有負面衝擊。
白宮經濟顧問委員會主席佛曼表示，國會預算處的報告並未考慮到一點，即是調漲工資能提升更多員工生產力並節省雇主開支，例如透過減少職場曠工情形。
一份報告 兩黨各有解讀
美國共和黨議員及其商業夥伴向來主張，調漲最低工資將促使雇主裁員，好支付其他員工更高薪水。他們誓言在11月的國會選舉前抵制這項政策。
他們迅速抓住國會預算處報告其中一項發現：若將最低時薪分3年調漲至10.10美元，將導致約50萬就業機會在2016年底前流失。
「由於失業問題是美國民眾的首要顧慮，我們的重點應是為最亟需工作的民眾創造機會，而不是摧毀工作機會。」聯邦眾院議長貝納發言人巴克說。
但民主黨人也在這份報告中發現了他們可利用的一點：將最低時薪調漲至10.10美元，能讓90萬人脫離4口之家年收入2萬4,100美元的貧窮線。
國會預算處表示，分2年將最低時薪調至9美元，將能讓30萬餘人脫貧。
民主黨領袖裴洛西表示，這意味著調漲工資將「把更多錢放進數百萬名消費者口袋裡、強化勞工階級家庭的經濟保障，並終止辛苦維持家計民眾的機會落差」。
延長失業救濟 仍未達共識
此外，跨黨派的國會預算處表示，調漲時薪將讓美國未來數年的預算赤字稍微下降一些，但之後數年又會微微升高。
美國已有近半數州提高了州內的最低工資；包含哥倫比亞特區在內，共有21州的最低時薪高於聯邦目前規定。
各黨將在11月的選舉中，爭相搶奪眾議院的435席次及參議院100席次中的36席次。而在為選舉暖身之際，民主黨以收入不均及薪資停滯作為他們的競選主軸。
民主黨主控的參議院最快將於3月針對最低工資進行辯論。
國會預算處估計，若最低時薪上調至10美元，貧困家庭的實質所得總計將增加50億美元（約新台幣1,500億元）；若上調至9美元，貧困家庭實質所得將增加10億美元（約新台幣3百億元）。
根據國會預算處報告，若最低時薪上調為10.10美元，共將有1,650萬名勞工受惠；若上調為9美元，總計將有760萬名勞工受惠。
除了爭取上調最低工資，民主黨人也不斷呼籲延長聯邦失業保險救濟金，此補助已於去年12月底失效。
這項暫時性補貼旨在保障於嚴重經濟蕭條之後長期失業的民眾，但共和黨人阻止這項政策延長，認為創造工作機會才是要務，而非補助。
美國目前失業率落在6.6％，跟2009年經濟大蕭條後的高峰相比已下降10％，但仍相當高。
兩黨參議員目前仍無法就這項補貼政策達成共識。（路透）
（圖說）美國總統歐巴馬在簽署一項調高基本薪資的行政命令前發表演說，圖攝於2014年2月12日。（圖文／路透）
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Raising the U.S. minimum wage would lead to the loss of about half a million jobs by late 2016 but lift almost a million Americans out of poverty, the Congressional Budget Office forecast in a report on Tuesday that reignited debate over one of President Barack Obama's top priorities this year.
Buoyed by polls showing three-quarters of Americans in favor of a minimum wage hike（1）, Obama and his fellow Democrats advocate raising the minimum hourly wage to $10.10 from the current $7.25 in a move to boost the stagnant（2） wages of millions of low-income workers.
In the long term, Democrats also want to tie future minimum wage increases to inflation, avoiding the legislative fights over wages for lower-paying jobs.
The Obama administration challenged the CBO's estimates on potential job losses, citing the findings of a large group of private economists who saw little or no negative impact from a minimum wage hike.
White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jason Furman said CBO's report failed to take into account that higher wages would make more workers more productive and save employers money through, for example, lower absenteeism（3） in the workplace.
Republicans in Congress and allies in the business community have long argued that minimum wage hikes encourage employers to shed workers to help offset higher salaries, and have vowed to fight the move ahead of the congressional elections in November.
They quickly seized on one of the findings in the CBO report: that raising the minimum wage in three annual steps to $10.10 an hour would result in about 500,000 jobs being lost by late 2016.
"With unemployment Americans' top concern, our focus should be creating, not destroying, jobs for those who need them most," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, a Republican.
But Democrats also found something to tout in the report, which found that a $10.10 minimum hourly wage would bring 900,000 people above the poverty threshold（4） of $24,100 a year for a family of four.
Some 300,000 people would be lifted out of poverty if the minimum wage were raised to $9 an hour in two annual steps, CBO said.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said that enacting the wage hike would put "more money in the pockets of millions of consumers, strengthening the economic security of working families, and closing the opportunity gap for those struggling most to make ends meet."
The non-partisan CBO also said that increasing the hourly wage could reduce U.S. budget deficits by a small amount for several years, though it would then increase them slightly in later years.
Nearly half of all U.S. states have enacted their own minimum wage increases, with 21, plus the District of Columbia, mandating an hourly minimum wage higher than the current federal level.
In the run-up to the November elections, when the entire 435-member House and 36 of 100 Senate seats are up for grabs, Democrats are making income inequality and stagnant wages a centerpiece（5） of their campaigns.
The Democratic-controlled Senate could debate minimum wage legislation as early as next month.
CBO estimated that families in poverty would see a total $5 billion increase in real income with a minimum wage of $10.10 an hour and $1 billion under a $9 hourly wage.
Altogether, 16.5 million workers would see their earnings rise with a $10.10 hourly wage, while 7.6 million would benefit at the $9-an-hour wage, according to the CBO report.
Besides arguing for a minimum wage increase, Democrats also have been calling for a renewal of federal unemployment insurance benefits, which expired at the end of December.
Republicans have blocked renewing the temporary benefits aimed at those without a job for extended periods in the aftermath of a deep economic recession, arguing that job creation steps instead of subsidies were needed.
The U.S. unemployment rate currently sits at 6.6 percent, down from a post-recession high of 10 percent in 2009 but still painfully high.
Senate Republicans and Democrats so far have failed to reach a compromise on the benefits.（Reuters）
關鍵字詞
1.minimum wage hike（n.）最低工資調漲
2.stagnant（a.）停滯的
3.absenteeism（n.）曠課；曠工
4.poverty threshold（n.）貧窮線
5.centerpiece（n.）重點