State: Minimum wage likely to rise 40 cents in 2009

The state minimum wage law adopted in 2007 requires that the department on Sept. 30 of each year make any required adjustments to the minimum wage, based on changes in the consumer price index as of the previous July. Preliminary July figures are in, and the CPI was up 6.1 percent compared to July 2007, according to a news release.

That increase would mean the state minimum wage would climb to $7.05 per hour, from $6.65 per hour now.

For tipped employees, the wage would rise to $3.525 per hour.

The numbers could change, and the minimum wage change won’t be official until Sept. 30, but department officials wanted to give Missouri businesses advance notice, the release said.

“The department has begun receiving calls from businesses asking what the new rate will be, so they can take that into account as they begin working on their budgets for next year,” DOLIR Director Todd Smith said in the release. “While we are not required to publish the information until the end of September, it is doubtful the federal government will revise their CPI numbers.”

This story originally appeared in SBJ’s Sept. 3 free e-news Daily Update. Click here to register.