With inflation near its highest rate, many states' attempts to modify their minimum wage standards could lessen the sting of gas and food prices.
The Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers increased by 9.1 percent over the last 12 months ending in June, which marked the largest 12-month increase since the period ending in December 1981, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"Inflation is clearly on the minds of lawmakers in various states," said Paul Piccigallo, an attorney with Littler in New York City. "Soaring inflation has caused lawmakers to reassess the minimum wage in their states and localities, with some calling to increase minimum wage to address rising inflation."
"It has taken a while to gain traction, and inflation tends to be a delayed response to excessive government spending, but finally the trend toward increases in the minimum wage in some states is evident," said John K. Skousen, an attorney with Fisher Phillips in Irvine, Calif. "Nearly two dozen states, counties and local jurisdictions increased minimum wage for workers in 2022."
Those increases may have been years in the making, with voters passing referendum to enact the changes years earlier when inflation wasn't such a pressing issue. But today, the wage increases could counteract some of inflation's effects.
"With the lack of traction in Washington to increase the federal minimum wage, we anticipate that more states and jurisdictions will pass measures to increase minimum wage...
"Breaking news: Sri Lanka has been removed from the United Nations," says superimposed Sinhala-language text on a Facebook graphic shared on September 25, 2026 The graphic also features a photo of...