Minimum wage in Florida to rise in 2018

15-cent increase brings rate to $8.25

Florida’s minimum wages will rise 15 cents to $8.25 an hour on Jan. 1, an increase from $8.10 an hour this year.

While higher, the state’s minimum is a far cry from the $15 an hour some labor groups and legislators have been seeking in recent years. At the same time, many South Florida employers and top retail employers already pay more than minimum wage to recruit the workers they need in a tighter labor market, economists say.

Target, for example, has announced an $11 minimum wage for its workers. The national discount retailer promises to reach $15 by 2020.

In its State of Working Florida report released to mark Labor Day, Florida International University’s Center for Labor Research & Studies calls for a rise in the minimum to increase Florida workers’ and families’ security. “The state’s minimum wage has not kept up with Florida’s cost of living,” according to the report, which says many of Florida’s workers are caught in a “low-wage job trap.”

In a new survey of 300 Florida businesses, half of the respondents say they would have to cut staff while one-third said they might have to go out of business if the minimum rose to $15, according to the Employment Policies Institute, a conservative think tank. Consumers also would feel a pinch from a $15 minimum wage, as businesses are likely to pass on higher costs in the form of increased prices, the institute says.

The state’s minimum wage is calculated each year by Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity using a formula established by Florida law. The calculation is based on the percentage increase in the federal Consumer Price Index for “urban wage earners and clerical workers” in the southern region for the 12-month period prior to Sept. 1.