LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles’ hourly minimum wage will rise from $15 to $16.04 on July 1, officials said Thursday.
The city’s wage is tied to the consumer price index as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and has risen steadily over the last seven years following a push by city leaders to boost the hourly rate and curb poverty.
The wage will apply to businesses of all sizes, according to the city’s website.
L.A.'s economic landscape in 2022 is far different than it was in 2015, the year city leaders voted for a set of escalating pay increases. High housing costs are fueling the city’s homelessness crisis, and inflation has made some goods more expensive.
Mayor Eric Garcetti, who pushed to raise the minimum wage in 2015, said Thursday the wage increase set to go in effect in July “is the latest reason to celebrate today — and a reminder of how our fight for better wages is far from finished.”
Although local chambers of commerce often oppose minimum wage increases, some businesses accept them as necessary, given the high local cost of living for workers.
“I totally support it going up,” said Ben Berry, co-owner of four area restaurants, including two in the city, Good Day Thai Kitchen and BKK 101.
Berry said his restaurants already pay above $16 an hour to their 40 employees. Workers need the higher wages, he said, to cope with the region’s expensive housing costs.
And apart from any minimum wage ordinance, competition for labor is driving up wages in the city.
“It’s what the market demands,” he said. “If you’re in a high-demand area like the center of L.A., you’ve got to be competitive with your pay because people will just jump ship.”
But the public, Berry said, needs “to understand that’s why food prices go up.”
