Few realize the dollar does not float arbitrarily. The dollar has a declared standard of value: mundane labor. Thanks to the minimum wage laws, a dollar is worth 8.28 minutes of simple work which pretty much anybody can do with negligible training.
The value of the US$ can be measured in several other more meaningful ways.
The standard most can see and feel is gasoline. The price of gasoline has not risen, the value of the US$ measured in gallons of gasoline has declined.
The same is true when measured against an ounce of silver or gold.
In the current congressional mindset, the minimum wage actually lags. That is the inflation of wages is lagging the devaluation of the US$. The current minimum wage acknowledges rather exacerbates (leads) economic inflation.