PHOENIX — Arizona’s minimum wage is set to increase again for the fifth straight year in 2022.
Starting Jan. 1, employers across the state will have to pay workers at least $12.80 an hour, the Industrial Commission of Arizona announced Thursday. That is up 5.3% from the $12.15 minimum wage in 2021.
The increase comes off the back of a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that shows that the Consumer Price Index rose 5.3% from August 2020 to August 2021.
In 2016, voters approved Proposition 206, which raised the minimum wage from $8.05 an hour to $10 and then increased it every year to $12 in 2020. Prop. 206 then required the minimum wage to be adjusted annually for inflation based off August numbers.
Still, despite the latest increase, it won’t have a major impact on what most employers are paying right now.
The industries that usually pay employees the minimum wage – restaurants, hotels, retailers – are currently struggling to find enough people to work and have started paying well above $12.15 for entry level jobs.
