He United States Department of Labor announced last year that, effective January 1, 2023, the minimum wage rate that must generally be paid to workers performing work on or in connection with covered contracts would increase to $16.20 per hour.
Meanwhile, the minimum salary cash per hour that must be provided to tipped workers who generally perform work on or in connection with covered contracts would increase to $13.75 per hour.
Thus, since the beginning of this year, millions more Americans have been eligible for higher wages.
Which states raised the minimum wage?
According to the group of experts Economic Policy Institute (EPI)23 states and Washington DC have already increased their minimum wage.
It was reported that salaries will be increased by more than 5 billion dollars and this will have an impact on up to 8.4 million workers.
“The fact that there is high inflation really underscores how necessary these minimum wage increases are for workers,” Sebastián Martínez Hickey, a research assistant at EPI, told CNN.
“Even before the pandemic, there was no county in the United States where you could live economically as a single adult at $15 an hour.”
The list of states that have increased their minimum wages in 2023 includes:
AlaskaArizonaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFlorida IllinoisMaineNebraskaNew JerseyNew YorkMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMissouriMontanaNevadaNew MexicoOhioRhode IslandSouth DakotaVermontVirginia
Low wages have been rising faster than inflation
Meanwhile, Michael Reichprofessor of economics at the University of California at Berkeleysaid to CNN that low wages have risen faster than inflation in recent years.
“The story is different because wages have been rising at the low end, much faster than inflation and much faster than in mid- or high-wage jobs,” Reich said.
“And that means many workers, even in the $7.25 states, are already being paid above the minimum wage. While minimum wages could rise by seven percent, in many states and cities, labor costs won’t rise as much as in in the past, because they already have, that also means that prices are not going to go up in places like restaurants,” he added.
2023-02-05 08:00:00
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