MELBOURNE (AP) – The minimum wage in Florida rose 42 cents to $7.21 per hour recently, igniting a debate over whether the increased pay will help workers or whether it will hurt the economy because small businesses simply can’t afford to pay it.

Nearly 10 percent of Florida’s workers earn under $7.50 per hour, according to the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.

Among many of the recently unemployed, for whom working for minimum wage could be the new reality, the boost is welcome.

“I would work for anything right now,” said Lucius Jackson, 40, of Cocoa, who worked 20 years in ground maintenance at Kennedy Space Center.

A change in contracts brought in a new company, costing him his job, which paid significantly above the minimum wage.

Jackson understands that employers might hire fewer workers since the minimum wage is higher, but he also recognizes the increased rate could mean more money in his pocket.

“I may be working for the minimum wage right now, so it could benefit me as well,” said Jackson, who is looking for work either as a laborer or a security guard but is willing to do anything.

“Bills are steady coming in and the money’s steady going out,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time before I hit rock bottom altogether.”

Rebecca Rush, state economist for the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation in Tallahassee, believes raising the minimum wage helps the overall economy.

“They are getting a raise in very difficult times. That is a stimulus to the economy,” she said. “Those extra wages will likely be spent in the economy to help the economy.”

Conservatives argue that most minimum wage earners are middle-class teenagers who are willing to work for less. They say a higher minimum wage reduces the number of jobs and hurts the economy.

However, many economists say few jobs are lost when the minimum wage rises, and those that are lost are marginal.

Those who support a higher minimum wage say it raises the living standards of all workers, teenagers included, and increases productivity because employers are more careful when hiring and managing employees.

“It’s one of those issues where there’s a case against it and a case for it,” said Randy Glover, an economics professor at Brevard Community College. While Glover believes a higher minimum wage reduces hiring, he also believes it has beneficial effects on productivity.

“If you’re paying more for a worker, you want to get more out of that worker,” he said.

Minimum wage jobs have plenty of takers these days, even among those with skills and education that could warrant higher paying work.

“I’d take anything I could get right now,” said Tim Griffin, 54, who has a master’s degree in criminal justice and owned a furniture refinishing business for nearly 20 years. He’s spent a lot of time at the Brevard Job Link office in Cocoa since he closed the refinishing shop due to a lack of business, which he blames on the economy.

“I’ve got enough money to pay the rent for two or three more months, and that’s it.”

Griffin said that even at $7.21 per hour, the new minimum wage is no substitute for a thriving economy.

“The last job I had I was making $9.50 an hour and just barely making it on that,” he said.

Chris Eichenlaub, 19, of Cocoa has been looking for a permanent job, but in the meantime, he’s been earning minimum wage as a contract laborer for Labor Ready in Cocoa. The rise in the minimum wage has not been much help.

“It doesn’t make much difference at all between the bills and food, fees and gas. Everything’s going up,” he said.

For Eichenlaub and others like him, living on minimum wage means just getting by. “I can hardly afford groceries. I can afford a little bit of gas,” he said. “I’ve got to be late on payments of bills sometimes.”

He needs a steady job, since he expects to be a father soon.

“I’ve applied everywhere – McDonald’s, Subway, Dollar General, Publix, Wendy’s – everywhere, and no one’s hiring,” he said.

Jobs are scarce, and skills often don’t help much, said Angel Torres, 28, who moved to Cocoa from Albany, N.Y.

“The last thing I did was graphic design,” said Torres. “Nobody wants signs because their businesses aren’t doing that good.

Working for minimum wage, he said, is no way to get ahead.

“You definitely get more in debt,” he said. “Little by little.”