Minimum wage increases to $11 in New York City

New York minimum wage workers’ first paychecks of 2017 will be slightly bigger.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law in April incremental increases that will grow to $15 an hour statewide by 2021.

The first statewide increases took effect on New Year’s Eve. In New York City, workers at businesses with at least 11 employees will be paid no less than $11, up from $10.50. Wages will be raised $2 every year until 2018.

For the city’s fast-food workers the raise was greater —$12 an hour.

For businesses with fewer than 11 employees, minimum wage will increase to $10.50, and the increments will be $1.50 every year until 2019.

In Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties the new wages will be $10, increases will be $1 a year until 2021. And in the rest of the state, the new minimum wage is $9.70, and will increase 70 cents every year until it hits $12.50, and then continue to increase on an indexed schedule until it hits $15.

New Jersey workers saw a modest minimum wage increase of six cents take effect Jan. 1 for a total of $8.44 an hour.

Although federal minimum wage remains the same at $7.25 an hour, a vigorous national movement to boost wages will see its fruits in 19 states this year.