By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- Workers at the bottom of the Arizona wage scale are going to be legally entitled to a pay hike of $42 a week beginning in January.
And you can credit -- or blame inflation.
New figures reported Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that costs as measure by the Consumer Price Index for urban consumers, have risen 8.3 percent between August 2021 and last month.
What makes that important is that laws approved by voters in 2006 and again in 2016 require annual inflation adjustments based on the August annual figures.
Rounded to the nearest nickel, as required by statute, that translates out to $1.05 an hour on top of the current $12.80 figure.
A formal announcement, however, won't come until Thursday. That's when the state Industrial Commission, which has purview over the annual adjustment, has its regular meeting.
The latest state minimum wage hike comes after Tucsonans voted last year to impose their own $15-an-hour minimum wage by 2025.
That started at $13 on April 1, going to $13.50 in 2023 and $14.25 in 2024 before hitting the target. After that, as with the state minimum, adjustments would be made based on inflation.
The Tucson ordinance, though, is designed so that workers get the benefit of whatever calculation is more generous. So if any time the state figure is higher -- as it will be in January -- that becomes the floor.
Even with the big increase and the new $13.85 wage floor, the automatic boost being...
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