Half or quits

Currently, employees earning over $23,660 are not eligible for overtime pay, a mandatory 50% wage bump for work in excess of 40 hours per week. Inflation has put most over this level: in 1975 62% of full-time salaried workers were eligible; today just 7% are. From December, the White House has announced, the threshold will rise to $47,476. That will probably boost the earnings of existing employees slightly, though firms are likely to cut wages for new recruits to keep costs down. They may also be discouraged from allocating workers more than 40 hours. That will hurt some. A slightly higher federal minimum wage would be a less risky route to higher pay. But changes to overtime rules, unlike the minimum wage, do not require the consent of Congress.