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• Graph: Weekly minimum wage 1906–2013 (PDF)
• The minimum wage since 1906 in $2012 (PDF)

The minimum wage varied in real terms until the 1920s brought some stability. The Great Depression saw a substantial cut in real terms of about 10 per cent, and the earlier level was not reached again until 1950.  The 1960s and 1970s saw substantial growth in real terms, with the minimum age reaching its height in real terms in 1980 as a result of industry cases.  It then dropped in real terms to the level reached in the late 1970s, and after a period of stability between 1990 and 2000 has been gradually increasing in real terms.