NYC Mayor Says Minimum Wage for Residents to Exceed $13 in 2016

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio stated during his 2015 State of the City address on Tuesday that the current minimum wage in the New York City did not do enough for residents and the city government would fight to raise it to more than $13 per hour.

WASHINGTON, February 3 (Sputnik) — The New York City government intends to raise the minimum wage to exceed $13 an hour in 2016, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said during his 2015 State of the City address on Tuesday.

“The current minimum wage proposal simply does not do enough for New York City, does not do enough for our people,” de Blasio said. “That’s why we will fight to raise New York City’s minimum wage to more than $13 per hour next year.”

De Blazio referred to the proposal by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to raise the minimum wage to $11.50 an hour, and said it does not go far enough to help poor New Yorkers, living in one of the nation’s costliest cities.

The New York state's minimum wage is $8.75 per hour, according to the US Department of Labor.

De Blasio also said the government will try to index the minimum wage to ensure it grows with inflation, and raise it to the projected $15 an hour by 2019.

“Hard working people will have a guarantee on what their minimum wage will be,” de Blasio said.

In 2013, about 1.5 million hourly workers in the United States earned the federal minimum wage, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.