Missoula Responds to Minimum Wage Increase – Local Business Owners and Workers Give Positive Feedback

Montana’s minimum wage is going up 15 cents an hour to $8.05 beginning in January. An estimated 12,850 Montana workers, or 2.9 percent of the workforce, received hourly wages less than $8.05 an hour last year. The question everyone is asking now is, is this good or bad for Montanans?

State law requires the Montana Department of Labor and Industry to adjust the minimum wage for inflation using the consumer price index. It went up 1.7 percent between August 2013 and August 2014.  The wage increase then is rounded to the nearest 5 cents.

NBC Montana reports that people in Missoula think it’s not enough to cause major cuts in positions or hours. Here’s University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research Director Patrick Barkey:

"When the minimum wage goes up, even by a small amount, that increases the potential for it to have an impact on how the markets operate," Barkey said. "Do employers do anything any different? So, do they offer fewer hours, or do they offer fewer jobs?"

Barkey told NBC Montana that he believes the minimum wage issue is being rekindled, especially since voting will happen soon.

"I don't think the impacts on the negative sides in Montana are going to be very important or very significant," he said.

With the increase, workers with a 40 hour per week job earning minimum wage would make $6 more per week.