New Year Rings in Pay Hike

Oregon’s low-paid workers got a raise with the New Year, when a 15-cent increase to the state’s minimum wage took effect.
The increase from $8.80 to $8.95 per hour means an extra $312 a year for a family with one full-time minimum wage worker. The increase is the result of Measure 25, approved by voters in 2002, which pegged Oregon’s minimum wage to rises in the cost of living.
“Strengthening the buying power of low-wage workers is especially critical in this economic climate,” said Chuck Sheketoff, executive director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy.
He noted that a recent study by the National Employment Law Project showed that, while 60 percent of jobs lost during the recession have been middle-wage occupations, low-wage occupations have accounted for 58 percent of jobs created in the post-recession recovery.