Patel feels that if the government did a better job with the economy, there would be no need for an increase in the minimum wage.

“With everything going up, the minimum wage has to go up because of economic conditions,” Patel said. “As the upper level economics are taken care of, if the state and national levels control the economics in a better way, there is no need to control the minimum wage. They need to control inflation. The dollar is getting weaker and weaker everyday.”

Last week, the Labor Department reported the fastest inflation since 1991 — 5 percent for June compared with a year earlier. Energy costs soared nearly 25 percent. The price of food rose more than 5 percent.

The minimum wage hike is "a drop in the bucket compared to the increases in costs, declining labor market, and declining household wealth that consumers have experienced in the past year," Lehman Brothers economist Zach Pandl said.

Brian Bethune, chief U.S. economist at consulting firm Global Insight believes the increase in the minimum wage could push food prices even higher by rising the pay for agricultural workers.

But he said he did not expect the change to have a major impact on the economy because recent increases in productivity, which enables companies to produce more with fewer workers, are keeping labor costs in check.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.