Connecticut’s hourly minimum wage will increase 4.6% to $15.69 from Jan. 1, 2024.

A state law enacted in 2019 implemented five annual increases in the hourly wage and tied future yearly increases to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment Cost Index.

The last of those five statutory increases took effect June 1, when the hourly wage hit $15.

Based on the law, future increases are calculated based on the change in the ECI “over the 12-month period ending June 30 of the preceding year, rounded to the nearest whole cent.”

Connecticut is the only state to index the minimum wage to the ECI, although other states tie increases to to other national economic indicators.

‘High-Wage State’

State officials estimate 10% of Connecticut’s workforce—about 169,000 workers—earn the minimum wage.

Connecticut average wages rose 4.4% from 2021 to 2022, giving the state the fifth-highest average wage in the country.

“We’re a high-wage state, so I think that increase in minimum wages is probably not a huge issue right now in this environment,” CBIA’s Chris DiPentima told the Connecticut Mirror.

DiPentima added that employers still believe wages should be set by market forces, not by government.

Bank of America, for instance, announced this week it will increase minimum hourly pay to $23 next month as it moves toward a $25 goal by 2025.

And Amazon announced plans to hire 250,000 workers this holiday season, including full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers at an average hourly rate of...

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