THE COASTAL PACKET: Minimum wage increase worked

Friday, January 12

Minimum wage increase worked

Maine Center for Economic Policy - According to MECEP analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, total wages in Maine grew by $587 million in the first half of 2017 compared with the first half of 2016. That’s a 4.7 percent year-over-year increase, the largest such increase since before the Great Recession.

Wage and job growth in the first half of 2017 coincided with the first minimum increase in eight years, which raised Maine’s wage floor from $7.50 to $9 per hour starting on January 7, 2017. The tipped minimum wage also increased from $3.75 to $5.00 per hour. As expected, data from the state’s largest employment sectors indicate that workers in the lowest-paid industries experienced the biggest proportional wage gains. That’s because low wage workers benefitted most directly from the higher minimum wage.

No comments: