Minimum wage rise not detrimental to business, says OCPP
From our weekly issue dated October 31, 2007
In connection with Oregon’s minimum wage increase by 15-cents next year, the Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP) has issued an analysis showing that minimum wage cost-of-living adjustments have not led to the dire consequences predicted by the farm and restaurant industries that opposed pegging the minimum wage to inflation.
Oregon’s minimum wage will increase from $7.80 to $7.95 per hour on Jan. 1, 2008, announced the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. The increase means an extra $312 a year and a total annual income of $16,536 for a family with one full-time minimum-wage worker, OCPP said.
The increase reflects the rise of the cost-of-living as defined by the August Consumer Price Index. The annual adjustment is mandated by Ballot Measure 25, approved by voters in 2002.
Since enactment of Measure 25, Oregon has created jobs at a faster clip than most other states. OCPP’s numbers show that Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment growth was 12th-fastest in the nation from 2002 to 2007.
Employment in the restaurant industry -- a vocal opponent of the measure and an industry with a relatively large share of minimum wage workers -- grew 19 percent during the 2002 to 2007 period.
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