Washington continues to have the highest minimum wage in the country, followed by Oregon, which also announced that its wage will rise 30 cents to $8.80 per hour next year.
As the result of a voter approved initiative in 1998, L&I has calculated the state's minimum wage every September using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The 37-cent increase comes as a result of a 4.26 percent rise in the CPI.
Washington's minimum wage was $8.55 in 2009, but it did not increase in 2010 because there was no change in the CPI.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25. Created in 1938, the federal minimum wage was 25 cents per hour in its first year and rose 5 cents the following year. It hit $1 per hour in 1956 and finally rose to $5.15 per hour in 1997, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
