As New Jersey welcomes the new bright year of 2021, the pay raise for many low-income workers comes.
According to Bloomberg, New Jersey's minimum wage will increase to $12 per hour starting Friday. The increase will take effect even if businesses are struggling to stay open, and critics claim that the higher cost would make it more challenging for businesses to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy had signed the legislation on the minimum wage increase in 2019. He is standing by the $12 increase for employees whose hours have been cut amid the pandemic since March, when New Jersey reported its first coronavirus infection case.
Murphy wrote in a tweet on Thursday, "Good news: Beginning tomorrow, New Jersey's minimum wage will rise to $12 an hour -- a boost for our workers, their families and our economy."
The minimum wage will rise to $15 by 2024
In 2024, New Jersey's minimum wage will rise to $15 from $8.85 in 2019.
However, critics say the coronavirus pandemic's economic effect has led state officials to hit the pause button on minimum wage increases, for now.
On the contrary, Governor Murphy said that the state needs more federal help to assist small businesses, and they need to continue the minimum wage's march toward the $15 increase. "We have far too many people in our state living below the poverty line, and so that's another big step," he added.
The eventual $15 minimum wage has been feared to lead to job losses, but an economist at Rutgers University, Dr. Yana Rodgers, said that would not be the case, as per the CBS Local.
Read also: Early Counting Mandatory on January 5 Georgia Runoffs, Same as November 3 Elections
Job losses won't happen because of the minimum wage increase
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a Washington-based lobbying group, 29 U.S. states have above the $7.25 minimum pay, a federal rate.
The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and the New Jersey Business and Industry Association are among those opposed to the lack of an emergency delay option.
The organizations argued that businesses were concerned by the mandatory closing earlier this year at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused them to have personal protective equipment cost, reduced operating hours, and indoor occupancy.
Since March 2020, New Jersey received 1,894,611 initial unemployment claims per the data released on Thursday. As some temporary holiday employment ended, the labor department received 20,460 claims, the highest total for December.
Nearly one-third of the state's small businesses that opened in January 2020 had stopped their operations as of December 9, as per data compiled, a project led by Harvard University; TrackTheRecovery.org.
Read also: Tennessee Governor Asks Trump for Federal Assistance Following Christmas Day Explosion in Nashville
