Arizona minimum wage to surpass $8 an hour in 2015

PHOENIX — Arizona’s minimum wage is scheduled to increase in 2015, after a meeting of the Industrial Commission on Thursday determined the wage must match the rising cost of living.

The commission determined Arizona’s minimum wage should be increased by 15 cents, raising the $7.90 rate to $8.05 for 2015.

Although the meeting was Thursday, the law spurring the wage spike was actually enacted in 2006. The Minimum Wage for Working Arizonans Act calls for a minimum wage which increases as the cost of living climbs.

The federal government measured about a 2 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers from August 2013 to August 2014, sparking the new discussion about Arizona’s wage in 2015.

Arizona’s current wage of $7.90 was the 14th-highest in the nation, according to data collected in August 2014 by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25, making Arizona one of the 23 states with established minimum wages above the federal requirement.

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