Minimum Wage headed up

Arizona's minimum wage will be going up again in January.

The raise comes courtesy of the Arizona Industrial Commission, which set the new state minimum wage for this coming year at $6.90 an hour. That’s 15 cents more than the current figure.

Commissioners have that power — in fact, that requirement — because of a 2006 voter-approved initiative which created Arizona’s first minimum wage. Prior to that, employers in the state were covered under the federal law which allowed workers to be paid as little as $5.15 an hour.

That 2006 law also requires the commission to provide annual cost of living increases, computed according to the Consumer Price Index published by the U.S. Department of Labor.

According to the commission, that 2 percent increase figures out to 13.5 cents. But workers will get 15 cents because the law requires adjustments to be rounded to the nearest nickel.