Connecticut’s hourly minimum wage will increase from $16.35 to $16.94 on Jan. 1, based on the third annual adjustment since the state pegged the wage to the federal employment cost index, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Wednesday.
The adjustment will keep Connecticut among the states with the highest minimum wages, a consequence of a law signed by Lamont in 2019 that gradually raised the $10.10 minimum until it reached $15 in 2023, then shifted to the index.
“Nobody who works full-time should have to live in poverty,” Lamont said in a statement. “For too long, as the nation’s economy grew the income of the lowest earning workers has stayed flat, making already existing pay disparities even worse and preventing hardworking families from obtaining financial security.”
The new calculation, which was announced more than a month ahead of the statutory deadline of Oct. 15, comes as the Democratic governor is trying to smooth relations with labor ahead of a decision on seeking a third term in 2026.
Lamont signed the minimum wage law during his first year office, the first of several pro-labor initiatives passed with his support. But he vetoed a bill that would have provided jobless benefits for strikers and has opposed increasing taxes on upper earners, angering the Connecticut AFL-CIO.
The state’s largest business group, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, opposes the increase as an unnecessary interference with a competitive labor market that it says requires paying between $18 and $22 an hour to attract entry-level workers.
“It’s just such a competitive environment,” said Chris DiPentima, the president and chief executive of CBIA. “Obviously businesses are doing everything they can with higher minimum wages and flexible benefits.”
The governor’s announcement came on the same day CBIA released to annual business survey. DiPentima said Connecticut remains in top five of states as measured by wages and wage growth.
“The minimum wage was established to provide a fair, livable baseline of income for those who work,” Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said. “This is a fair, gradual increase for workers that ensures that as the economy grows, our minimum wage grows with it — and that’s good for everyone.”
Connecticut currently has the fourth highest state minimum wage, behind $16.66 in Washington and $16.50 in California and most of New York. Massachusetts and Rhode Island require a minimum wage of $15.
“Indexing minimum wage to the employment cost index helps protect the most vulnerable earners from inflation and cost increases, and it helps keeps wage gaps from widening,” said Dante Bartolomeo, commissioner of labor.
Connecticut’s new minimum will be four pennies higher than the $16.90 taking effect on the same day in California. Washington state will announce its indexed 2026 rate at the end of September.
There are higher minimum wages in some metro areas. It is $17.55 in the District of Columbia.
Connecticut currently has about 70,000 open jobs. It’s unemployment rate for July was 3.8%, up from 3.1% a year earlier.
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
