More than 100,000 low-paid Oregon workers will get a raise starting in the new year, when a 30-cent increase to the state’s minimum wage takes effect.
The increase from $8.50 to $8.80 starting on January 1 will mean an extra $624 a year for a family with one full-time minimum wage worker, according to the Oregon Center for Public Policy.
Two recent estimates show the breadth of Oregon workers getting a raise next year. The Oregon Employment Department Oregon calculated that about 137,000 jobs in the state paid less than $8.80 per hour in the first quarter of 2011, jobs that would be affected by the increase. The leisure and hospitality industry and retail trade account for 6 out of 10 of the jobs affected.