Over 6% of hourly workers in Missouri work at or below the minimum wage. That’s according to a new report released yesterday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national average is 4.7%.
The report looked at data for 2012. It found that the percent of hourly workers at or below the minimum wage fell by less than one percentage point since the previous year, according to Southeast Missouri State University economist Bruce Domazlicky.
“In Missouri, it’s been going down a little bit. For example, in 2010 it was about 123,000 [workers]. Now it’s about 97,000. So it’s coming down, which is an indication that the labor market is improving somewhat,” Domzalicky said.
Domazlicky notes that 70% of those earning minimum wage or less are women.
“Quite a bit more women were in that category than there were men, and that probably goes back to the fact that many servers in restaurants tend to be female,” Domazlicky said.
Missouri has the ninth highest percentage of hourly workers who make the minimum wage or less.
