Montana Minimum Wage Going Up

Montana minimum wage workers getting pay hike

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana's minimum wage workers are getting a small pay raise on New Year's Day when an automatic cost-of-living increase takes effect.

Montana is among nine states with a scheduled increase in the minimum wage taking place on Tuesday.

In Montana, it will go up from $7.65 to $7.80, meaning a full-time worker will make about $300 more in a year.

The Department of Labor estimates it will affect more than 20,000 workers since some workers making a little more than the minimum could also see pay increases as wage scales are adjusted upward.

Montana's minimum wage goes up due to a ballot initiative approved by nearly three-fourth of voters in 2006. That law established the annual cost-of-living increases.