Apparel retailer Gap Inc. said Wednesday it would raise the hourly pay for its U.S. employees to $9 in June and $10 in June 2015, after the White House said the minimum wage for federal contract workers would be raised to $10.10 an hour. 
 
 President Barack Obama signed an executive order last week to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $10.10 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2015, and encouraged employers nationwide to increase wages for their workers. 
 
 Gap Inc. says it will raise hourly wages for employees to $9 in June, and to $10 in June 2015. The move is expected to affect about 65,000 store workers. Alex Brandon / AP 
 
 Gap, owner of Old Navy, Banana Republic, Gap, Athleta and Piperlime apparel chains, said the increased pay will benefit about 65,000 store employees. It said "the majority" of employees in stores, call centers and distribution centers currently earn more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. 
 
 "To us, this is not a political issue," said Gap Chairman and CEO Glenn Murphy. "Our decision to invest in frontline employees will directly support our business, and is one that we expect to deliver a return many times over." 
 
 Meanwhile, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest private employer in the United States, said Wednesday it was "looking at supporting" an increase in the federal minimum wage, Bloomberg reported, citing a company spokesman. 
 
 -Reuters and NBC News staff ||||| (Reuters) - Apparel retailer Gap Inc (GPS.N) said it would raise the hourly pay for its U.S. employees to $9 in June 2014 and $10 in June 2015, after the White House said the minimum wage for federal contract workers would be raised to $10.10 an hour in 2015. 
 
 Gap, owner of Old Navy, Banana Republic and Gap apparel chains, said the increased pay will benefit about 65,000 store employees. 
 
 "I applaud Gap for announcing that they intend to raise wages for their employees beginning this year," U.S. President Barack Obama said. 
 
 Separately, Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), the largest private employer in the United States, said it remains "neutral" on the issue of the federal minimum wage order of at least $10.10 per hour as it already pays most full-time employees above that level. 
 
 "We are looking into the impact that this proposal will be on our business," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan told Reuters on Wednesday. "We remain neutral. Our position has not changed." 
 
 She said an earlier Bloomberg report that the world's largest retailer was "looking at supporting" an increase in the federal minimum wage was inaccurate. (link.reuters.com/hej96v) 
 
 "Wal-Mart is not a minimum wage business. Ninety-nine percent of our hourly associates, people working in stores earn above the state and federal wage," Buchanan said. 
 
 Obama said last week he would sign an executive order to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers starting next year. 
 
 The order applies to new contracts and replacements for expiring contracts. 
 
 Wal-Mart is expected to report fourth-quarter results on Thursday. 
 
 (Editing by Don Sebastian and Cynthia Osterman)
– Gap is staying a step ahead of moves to raise the minimum wage by setting $9 as its minimum wage this summer and raising it to $10 in 2015. The company says the move will affect around 65,000 workers at its stores, which include Old Navy and Banana Republic, NBC reports. President Obama—who wants to bring the minimum wage up from $7.25 to $10.10—applauded the move, which Gap CEO Glenn Murphy described as one that will "directly support our business, and is one that we expect to deliver a return many times over. The chief of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union said Gap's move was a step in the right direction, but the biggest problem facing retail workers these days is the struggle to work enough hours to earn a good living. To reduce employee turnover, Gap and other retailers should "give these workers full-time jobs and regular schedules that don’t change week to week," he tells the New York Times. Meanwhile, Walmart—America's biggest employer—denied earlier reports that it was looking at supporting a rise in the federal minimum wage, saying it was "neutral" on the issue and already pays most of its full-time employees more than $10 an hour, Reuters reports.