Minimum Wage Rising in Seven States

According to the National Employment Law Project, a New York-based advocate for workers, estimates that about 647,000 people will see their paychecks go up by anywhere from 9-12 cents/hour in the following states; Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. 

At that point Washington will have 2011’s highest statewide minimum wage at $8.67 an hour.  

Ten states schedule their minimum wages to rise automatically when the cost of living rises, but the cost of living didn’t increase enough in Florida, Nevada and Missouri to trigger a wage hike, according to the Associated Press.

In Colorado, the minimum wage can actually drop because of deflation – and a year ago, it did just that, dipping 3 cents an hour to the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour, according to the AP.  That was the first time a state’s minimum wage has dropped since the federal minimum wage law was adopted in 1938, according to the report.

You can check out state-by-state minimum wage laws at http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm