Minimum wage earners in state receive pay raise

AUGUSTA – Thousands of Mainers got a pay raise Monday as the state’s minimum wage increased from $6.75 to $7 an hour.

About 26,000 people earn the minimum wage in Maine, according to the state Department of Labor.

The Legislature last year approved bumping up the state’s minimum wage, first from $6.50 to $6.75 an hour last October, and again this October to $7.

The federal minimum wage rose to $5.85 an hour this summer, an increase of 70 cents an hour for the first increase in a decade.

The “long overdue” minimum wage hike will help Maine families while boosting the state economy, said Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport.

“Increasing the minimum wage will help our families to better provide for themselves and will return more money back to our local businesses,” said Edmonds.

Some job categories are exempted from the minimum wage, such as farm workers, service employees who receive tips, domestic workers, cabdrivers and camp counselors.