Arizona minimum wage to hit $15.15 in January

PHOENIX – Arizona is finally going to require workers to be paid at least $15.15 an hour.

New figures Thursday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that year-over-year inflation through August hit 2.9%.

What makes that significant is that laws approved here by voters in 2006 and again in 2016 require the state’s minimum wage to be adjusted annually to match the change in the Consumer Price Index that is reported each September. That means the current floor of $14.70 will go up by 45 cents on Jan. 1, a figure by law that is rounded to the nearest nickel.

People working in Tucson and Flagstaff will see an even higher minimum.

In Tucson the minimum already is $15 an hour. It, too, will increase by 45 cents, to $15.45.

And in Flagstaff the $17.85 minimum will hit $18.35 in January.

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