ND1005113

Title: Eight States to Hike Minimum Wage in 2012

Description: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington will raise their minimum wage next year.

Page Content:

NEW YORK ? In 2012, eight states have plans to raise their minimum wage due to automatic yearly hikes, CNNMoney reports. Colorado, Montana, Ohio, Oregon and Washington have released next year?s minimum wage rates, which range from increases of 28 cents to 37 cents per hour. Arizona, Florida and Vermont have not announced how much their minimum wage will go up.

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In these eight states, the minimum wage rates are tied to inflation and therefore see annual increases. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour, and it was last raised in 2009. Washington, D.C., and 18 other states have minimum wages above the federal rate.

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?We can't afford to have workers' buying power erode when, in fact, we need spending to get the economy going,? said Jen Kern, minimum wage coordinator at the National Employment Law Project (NELP), which supports higher minimum wages.

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With the economy still recovering, more workers are making minimum wage. NELP found that in the first seven months of 2010, more than three-quarters of jobs created were low- to mid-wage.

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California, Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts are considering bills that would increase their minimum wages and tie future hikes to a yearly cost-of-living adjustment. In addition, some economists point to a higher federal minimum wage as one way to boost the economy. Kern said that an initiative to hike the federal minimum wage might start in 2012.

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Content Subject: Operations

Formatted Article Date: October 5, 2011

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