(RALEIGH) -- President Obama called on Congress in his State of the Union Address to raise the federal minimum wage.

Republican Congresswoman Renee Ellmers of North Carolina says this would hurt those trying to find their first job

"One of the biggest groups of individuals in this country who are unemployed are our young people. That's is going to cut the number of entry level jobs that those individuals have."

President Obama wanted to raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour from $7.25 and to automatically adjust it with inflation, a move aimed at increasing the earnings of millions of low-wage workers. North Carolina Democratic Congressman David Price agrees with the President,

"To the extent we are talking about, people who are working and playing by the rules, trying to support their families yes, if there needs to be a floor on wages and a $9 floor on the minimum wage seems about right to me."

The President pushed his wage hike request at Linamar Corporation in Arden Wednesday.