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Mexico Boosts Minimum Wage

Mexico Boosts Minimum Wage
Mexico Boosts Minimum Wage

The bittersweet news for Mexico’s poorest workers: the government is raising the minimum wage. But the 10.4% increase–to 88.36 from 80.04 pesos per day ($4.70 from $4.20)–falls far short of the 19% hike, to 95.24 pesos, that business group Coparmex has been pushing for, at a time when Nafta negotiations have turned the spotlight on low Mexican pay, Yahoo reported. Coparmex, which represents 36,000 businesses that account for almost a third of GDP, said the new level still left those earning the minimum wage below the poverty line. The new wage, which takes effect at the start of December, covers 92% of the amount needed to reach that threshold, up from 84%, it said. “Coparmex believes the increase is a limited step forward … for everyone working in the formal economy to obtain at least 100% of the amount needed to cover the basic basket of food and non-food basket in urban centers, that is, to reach the poverty line,” it said in a statement.

 

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