Here Comes the Minimum-Wage Increases

January 4, 2018 1:00pm by

Workers in 18 States Get Minimum-Wage Increases

Source: Real Time Economics

 

2018 begins with instant raises for the lowest paid rung of the labor pool — those working for minimum wage — in 18 states and almost 22 municipalities, the lowest-paid workers are seeing an pay increase.

This is the end result of a lot of policy debate, pressure from labor groups, and a general recognition of the negative societal consequences of massive economic inequality:

“In some cases, the increases represent one of several steps in a multiyear process to slowly raise the minimum wage. Arizona, for instance, will see its pay floor rise 50 cents on Jan. 1, followed by another 50 cents in 2019 and $1 in 2020, part of a four-year process to boost the base salary for workers who don’t work for tips to $12 an hour by 2020. Voters approved a measure in 2016 to raise the minimum wage in four steps.

In Washington, where voters also backed a ballot measure in 2016, the minimum wage will rise to $11.50 an hour from $11 in 2018, one of several steps to boost it to $13.50 an hour by 2020. Other states, such as Florida, Minnesota and Ohio, will see the minimum wage rise simply because it is indexed to inflation. Two more states, Maryland and Oregon, are set to boost minimum wages on July 1, 2018.”

We will learn tomorrow about the broader economy; these increases won’t show up in the BLS data until next month…

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