State will still have nation’s highest minimum wage in 2005

TUMWATER, Wash. – The state of Washington will continue to have the highest minimum wage in the country when it increases by 19 cents to $7.35 an hour on Jan. 1.

The state recalculates the minimum wage each year according to changes in the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, the state Department of Labor and Industries said.

The recalculation is required by Initiative 688, approved by state voters in 1998. Washington is one of only three states – Oregon and Florida are the others – with voter-mandated adjustments.

Washington’s current minimum wage of $7.16 is one penny higher than Alaska’s, which is not increasing in 2005. Oregon’s minimum wage will increase 20 cents, to $7.25, L&I spokesman Ron Langley said.

Fourteen states have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum of $5.15.