*By Carlo Versano*
Amazon said Tuesday it will raise the minimum wage for all its workers in the U.S. to $15 an hour.
The e-commerce giant announced in a [blog post](https://blog.aboutamazon.com/working-at-amazon/amazon-raises-minimum-wage-to-15-for-all-us-employees) that the change would be effective Nov. 1, include all full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees and that there would be no conditions attached to the raise.
Further, Jay Carney, the former Obama press secretary who heads Amazon ($AMZN) corporate affairs, said the company will advocate for an increase in the federal minimum wage, which has been at $7.25 since 2009.
The company said 250,000 employees and 100,000 seasonal hires will benefit from the changes. Whole Foods employees, who have begun organizing for a union, will be included. Amazon bought Whole Foods last year for nearly $14 billion.
In a press release, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said, "We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we wanted to lead."
Amazon has been under increasing pressure from Congress, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), over wages and work conditions at its fulfillment centers.
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Google is making its artificial intelligence power tools available to customers for a monthly fee.
Best Buy lowered its sales outlook for the rest of the year despite a positive quarterly earnings report.
X Corp, formerly known as Twitter, is facing over 2,200 arbitration cases.
Google Flight added a new feature that tracks flight prices.
Businesses posted far fewer open jobs in July and the number of Americans quitting their jobs fell sharply for the second straight month, clear signs that the labor market is cooling in a way that could reduce inflation.
American Airlines said it was fined $4.1 million for keeping passengers on planes during long on-ground delays.
3M said it will pay $6 billion to settle lawsuits claiming that it sold defective earplugs to the U.S. military.
Meta said it disrupted a campaign of disinformation linked to Chinese law enforcement.
Buying your first home can be challenging with rising interest rates and other costs. Cheddar News spoke with Amira Elgoneimy, a premiere agent with Redfin who caters to the New Brunswick, NJ area, and Daryl Fairweather, chief economist with Redfin, about the process involved in purchasing a residence in a competitive market.
