The first day of the new year is bringing a change to the minimum wage paid in the State of Missouri.
The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations announced the minimum wage rate for 2021 has been established, according to state law, at $10.30 per hour.
Brian Thompson, CEO of Lebanon REDI (Regional Economic Development), said the minimum wage increase is a mixed bag as far as its effect.
“On the front end obviously you see employees at the minimum wage rate taking home more in theory, gaining more buying power,” Thompson said. “On the flip side of that, that could affect some smaller employers, some of the bigger ones have larger revenues and it doesn’t affect them as much, but the increase may hit smaller businesses a bit harder, they may have to make some tough decisions. They may have to scale their staff back by a person or two and that’s not good.”
For more on this story see Wednesday's LCR.
