PHOENIX — The stagnant economy is leaving Arizona’s lowest-paid workers without a government-mandated wage hike.
As anticipated, the Industrial Commission of Arizona has concluded that inflation for urban areas for the 12 months ending in August was just 0.2 percent.
That’s not enough to merit an increase under a 2006 voter-approved law, which requires the commission to adjust the state minimum wage annually to match inflation.
The state’s minimum wage will stay at $8.05.
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics shows 8,000 Arizonans working at the current $7.25-an-hour federal minimum. Another 35,000 are paid less than that, although the agency says that includes those whose jobs are exempt and does not mean employers are violating federal law.
The commission has no figures on how many Arizonans are making $8.05.
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The Arizona law also includes a “tip credit” of $3 an hour. That allows employers whose workers can get tips to pay as little as $5.05.
But the commission can require companies to prove that their employees are earning at least that much in tips.
This is not the first time that the lack of inflation wiped out an increase in the state’s minimum wage. There was no boost in 2010 over the $7.25-an-hour state figure for 2009.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich ruled earlier this year that the 2006 law does not preclude cities and counties from proposing their own minimum wages as long as they are higher than the state figure.
Organizers in Flagstaff are proposing a “living wage” for that community.