Colorado minimum wage going up

DENVER – Colorado's 57,000 minimum wage workers will see a small spike in their paychecks this year. Wages went up by 11 cents to $7.36 an hour.

A measure was passed in 2006 to adjust the minimum wage amounts each year based on Colorado's inflation rate.

"Any dollar helps," said Rich Jones, Director of Policy with the Bell Policy Center in Denver.

Jones says the small increase will benefit people in the minimum wage bracket.

"It does make a difference for people at that level," Jones said. "It works out to be about $230 a year for someone who is working full-time throughout the year."

That $230 does not include a deduction in taxes. Since people who make minimum wage don't pay much in income taxes, Jones says they'll likely bank most of the $230.

"My guess is they're going to get most of it," he said.

In 2010, Colorado's minimum wage rate stayed the same as it was 2009. It was actually supposed to go down by a penny, but the state kept it at the federal rate which was $7.25.