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Oregon's lowest-paid workers will see their wages rise a bit today as a new minimum wage goes into effect.
The state's minimum wage increased 15 cents per hour, to $7.95. The change was based upon a rise in the cost of living, as defined by the Consumer Price Index.
An employee working 40 hours a week at minimum wage will now earn $16,536 annually. That's $312 more than under the previous minimum wage of $7.80.
Still, a family of three headed by a person working at minimum wage would fall below the $17,170 federal poverty line.
"Adjustments to the minimum wage are essential for keeping the lowest-paid workers from falling further behind, but they are not a ticket out of poverty for most families depending only on a minimum wage job," Michael Leachman, a policy analyst with the Oregon Center for Public Policy, said in a written releases.
In 2006, one out of every 15 working families with children remained poor despite their work efforts, Leachman said. The percentage of working families living below the poverty level is twice that of a generation ago, he said.
Oregonians voted in 2002 to increase the minimum wage from $6.50 to $6.90 and to tie the wage level to inflation.
With the 15-cent increase for 2008, Oregon will have the fourth-highest minimum wage in the nation. Washington state, with a minimum wage of $8.07 per hour, is the country's highest. Workers earning minimum wage in California and Massachusetts are paid $8 an hour.
The federal minimum wage is only $5.85. It will increase to $6.55 an hour on July 24.
Oregon's nonfarm payroll employment growth was the 12th fastest in the nation between 2002 and 2007, according to an analysis by the Oregon Center for Public Policy.
Critics of the 2002 measure to increase Oregon's minimum wage predicted that up to 30,000 workers could lose their jobs if the measure passed. Since the measure's passage, employment in the restaurant industry, which includes a large number of employees earning minimum wage, has grown 19 percent. That's twice the rate of the overall nonfarm payroll statewide, the center said.
The Oregon Employment Department recently predicted that the restaurant industry will add another 22,700 new jobs between 2006 and 2016.
* You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@newsreview.info.
The state's minimum wage increased 15 cents per hour, to $7.95. The change was based upon a rise in the cost of living, as defined by the Consumer Price Index.
An employee working 40 hours a week at minimum wage will now earn $16,536 annually. That's $312 more than under the previous minimum wage of $7.80.
Still, a family of three headed by a person working at minimum wage would fall below the $17,170 federal poverty line.
"Adjustments to the minimum wage are essential for keeping the lowest-paid workers from falling further behind, but they are not a ticket out of poverty for most families depending only on a minimum wage job," Michael Leachman, a policy analyst with the Oregon Center for Public Policy, said in a written releases.
In 2006, one out of every 15 working families with children remained poor despite their work efforts, Leachman said. The percentage of working families living below the poverty level is twice that of a generation ago, he said.
Oregonians voted in 2002 to increase the minimum wage from $6.50 to $6.90 and to tie the wage level to inflation.
With the 15-cent increase for 2008, Oregon will have the fourth-highest minimum wage in the nation. Washington state, with a minimum wage of $8.07 per hour, is the country's highest. Workers earning minimum wage in California and Massachusetts are paid $8 an hour.
The federal minimum wage is only $5.85. It will increase to $6.55 an hour on July 24.
Oregon's nonfarm payroll employment growth was the 12th fastest in the nation between 2002 and 2007, according to an analysis by the Oregon Center for Public Policy.
Critics of the 2002 measure to increase Oregon's minimum wage predicted that up to 30,000 workers could lose their jobs if the measure passed. Since the measure's passage, employment in the restaurant industry, which includes a large number of employees earning minimum wage, has grown 19 percent. That's twice the rate of the overall nonfarm payroll statewide, the center said.
The Oregon Employment Department recently predicted that the restaurant industry will add another 22,700 new jobs between 2006 and 2016.
* You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@newsreview.info.
