Missouri's minimum wage workers got a pay raise today. The federal minimum wage went up 20 cents to $7.25 an hour.
This will put more money in employees' paychecks.
But it also could affect *your* pocketbook.
Crystal Short opened Danni Nicole's Clothing Store in Hannibal a few months ago.
She says this mimimum wage increase is good news for some people. For her, it means paying more to suppliers in order to stock her store.
What does this minimum wage increase mean to you as a business owner?
Short said, "I think the most obvious impact is we're being charged more for our product and so we're having to pass that increase onto our customers."
Terry Sampson, Executive Director of the Hannibal Chamber of Commerce said, "Anytime you have an increase in operating expenses, which if you have a number of employees it will make this happen, there's always a real possibility that there will be an increase."
He thinks the price increases will be small...but they will add up as you shop.
Sampson says the majority of Hannibal businesses already pay employees more than minimum wage. But even those businesses may have to re-evaluate wages to keep things fair for longtime employees.
Sampson Anytime you're mandated or required to start an employee at a certain amount and you have existing employees not far off from that who are good performers, you've got a real issue that you either need to look at.
Evaluating wages is something Short already plans to do. But as she provides jobs in the local economy, she hopes folks keep coming in to support her local business.
This isn't the end of the pay increases for minimum wage earners. The state of Missouri will follow the federal minimum wage at least until January.
Every year after that, it will recalculate its minimum wage based on the change in the national Consumer Price Index.
If that results in a state minimum wage *higher* than the federal level, the Missouri minimum wage will kick in again.
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