Pay hike coming for minimum wage earners
Published 1:06 pm Friday, September 30, 2011
Washington has the highest minimum wage in the country — and it is about to go higher.
Starting Jan. 1, the hourly minimum wage will rise from $8.67 to $9.04 which is a 37-cent increase.
A voter-approved initiative requires the Department of Labor & Industries recalculate the rate annually.
Today’s announcement reflects a 4.258 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers since August 2010, according to a department press release.
Washington is one of 10 states that adjusts the minimum wage based on inflation and the CPI. The others are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, and Vermont.
Washington’s rate is the nation’s hightest and Oregon’s is second. That state’s minimum wage will rise from $8.50 to $8.80 an hour in 2012, according to the release.
