ALBANY – Twenty states including New York are raising their minimum wage rates by January first.
It’s part of previously-scheduled efforts to adjust for cost-of-living gains, or to ratchet up toward goals like $15 an hour minimum pay.
The minimum hourly wage in New York State will increase 70 cents, to $12.50 an hour.
In New Mexico, the minimum wage will increase from the current nine-dollar an hour wage, to $10.50.
In California, the rate for employers with 26 workers or more will rise from $13, to $14 an hour.
In Minnesota, the gain is just pennies, to a $10.80 hourly rate for large employers.
Nevertheless, the wage boosts come at a much-needed time for many Americans, especially for lower wage workers that have been hit particularly hard by the economic fallout of the pandemic.
However, some lawmakers and business organizations have called for a pause on the scheduled minimum wage hikes, citing the burden on small businesses that are already struggling.
The federal minimum wage of $7.25 cents per hour hasn’t changed since 2009.
Twenty states will still have a minimum wage either equal to or below the federal level.
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