Colorado minimum wage likely to drop

DENVER – Lower inflation is usually good news, but Colorado’s minimum wage will likely be adjusted downward 4 cents to $7.24 on Jan. 1 because of a 0.6 percent drop in the consumer price index between July 2008 and July 2009. The Denver-Boulder-Greeley CPI is used by the Colorado Division of Labor to adjust the minimum wage annually for inflation, under Amendment 42 passed by voters in 2006.

Many workers covered by Colorado’s minimum wage are also covered by the federal minimum wage, which increased to $7.25 on July 24, so wages for those workers could fall no more than 3 cents per hour.

An estimated 50,000 to 70,000 workers in Colorado will be affected by the minimum wage adjustment.

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