New Jersey voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly supported a $1 increase in the minimum wage, to $8.25 an hour, and amended the state constitution to lock in automatic increases tied to inflation.

With 64 percent of the vote in, 60 percent of voters were saying “yes” to the question, according to The Associated Press.  

Advocates of a higher wage praised the vote as a victory for low-wage workers, and said giving them extra spending power would stimulate the state economy. But opponents said the automatic raises, in particular, would dampen economic activity and job growth by increasing employers’ costs.

“New Jersey’s voters should be thanked tonight for understanding that the state’s low-wage workers need more than $7.25 an hour to survive in this high-cost state,” said Gordon MacInnes, president of the progressive group New Jersey Policy Perspective.

But John Holub, president of the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, said that the automatic cost-of-living increases could be a problem if 1970s-style high inflation ever returns.

“We could have hyperinflation, and businesses will be hit with significant increases in wage costs when the economy is struggling,” Holub said. “But it’ll be in the constitution, and the Legislature wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”

“We predict that raising the minimum wage automatically every year is going to result in losses for small businesses, so we’re really disappointed,” said Laurie Ehlbeck, director of the New Jersey office of the National Federation of Independent Business.

MacInnes said New Jersey is the 20th state to establish a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum of $7.25 and the 11th state to tie future increases automatically to rising costs of living.

As MacInnes suggested, the New Jersey battle reflected a larger movement — both nationally and around the world — to significantly increase the wages of the lowest-paid workers.

President Obama and congressional Democrats support a higher minimum wage, and California, Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island all raised their minimums this year. Minimum-wage campaigns are under way in Canada, Poland, Romania, Germany and India.

As middle-class jobs were lost during the recession, the number of Americans working in minimum-wage jobs more than doubled from 2007 and 2012. About 3.6 million workers, or 4.7 percent of the 75.3 million hourly workers in the country, made the minimum wage in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Holub, of the merchants’ group, said his members already generally pay more than the minimum wage — typically at least $10 an hour. Retailers, he said, could have lived with a law mandating an increase of $1 spread over three years, as Governor Christie suggested after vetoing a bill earlier this year to raise the minimum wage. But he said: “The minimum wage has no business being in the state constitution.”

The state office of the National Federation of Independent Business, which has 7,000 members in New Jersey, said that research by its Washington office found that the wage increase would cost the state 31,000 jobs, more than wiping out any economic benefit from increased spending by low-income workers.

But Steven Pressman, an economics professor at Monmouth University, said a study of New Jersey’s 1992 minimum-wage hike found that there was no net negative impact on employment.

MacInnes said that automatic wage increases will ensure that low-income workers won’t lose ground because of inflation. According to his policy group, the wage increase would affect 11 percent of the state’s workforce: 241,000 who currently earn $7.25 to $8.25 an hour and 188,000 who earn $8.25 and $9.25 and would likely receive a pay bump.

New Jersey raised its minimum to $7.15 an hour in 2006; it rose again in July 2009 when the federal minimum wage was raised to $7.25. States are not allowed to set rates lower than the federal minimum.

Interviewed at a polling place in Lynd¬hurst, Elaine Benecki, 70, said she voted for the increase because she knows what it is to work for low pay. She worked at a bagel store for $7.50 an hour at the age of 68.

“I had to work. I needed the money,” Benecki said. “But the pay was so low! It barely helped me at all. So, yes, I voted for the minimum wage. No one should have to work that hard for so little money.”

New Jersey voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly supported a $1 increase in the minimum wage, to $8.25 an hour, and amended the state constitution to lock in automatic increases tied to inflation.

With 64 percent of the vote in, 60 percent of voters were saying “yes” to the question, according to The Associated Press.  

Advocates of a higher wage praised the vote as a victory for low-wage workers, and said giving them extra spending power would stimulate the state economy. But opponents said the automatic raises, in particular, would dampen economic activity and job growth by increasing employers’ costs.

“New Jersey’s voters should be thanked tonight for understanding that the state’s low-wage workers need more than $7.25 an hour to survive in this high-cost state,” said Gordon MacInnes, president of the progressive group New Jersey Policy Perspective.

But John Holub, president of the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, said that the automatic cost-of-living increases could be a problem if 1970s-style high inflation ever returns.

“We could have hyperinflation, and businesses will be hit with significant increases in wage costs when the economy is struggling,” Holub said. “But it’ll be in the constitution, and the Legislature wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”

“We predict that raising the minimum wage automatically every year is going to result in losses for small businesses, so we’re really disappointed,” said Laurie Ehlbeck, director of the New Jersey office of the National Federation of Independent Business.

MacInnes said New Jersey is the 20th state to establish a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum of $7.25 and the 11th state to tie future increases automatically to rising costs of living.

As MacInnes suggested, the New Jersey battle reflected a larger movement — both nationally and around the world — to significantly increase the wages of the lowest-paid workers.

President Obama and congressional Democrats support a higher minimum wage, and California, Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island all raised their minimums this year. Minimum-wage campaigns are under way in Canada, Poland, Romania, Germany and India.

As middle-class jobs were lost during the recession, the number of Americans working in minimum-wage jobs more than doubled from 2007 and 2012. About 3.6 million workers, or 4.7 percent of the 75.3 million hourly workers in the country, made the minimum wage in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Holub, of the merchants’ group, said his members already generally pay more than the minimum wage — typically at least $10 an hour. Retailers, he said, could have lived with a law mandating an increase of $1 spread over three years, as Governor Christie suggested after vetoing a bill earlier this year to raise the minimum wage. But he said: “The minimum wage has no business being in the state constitution.”

The state office of the National Federation of Independent Business, which has 7,000 members in New Jersey, said that research by its Washington office found that the wage increase would cost the state 31,000 jobs, more than wiping out any economic benefit from increased spending by low-income workers.

But Steven Pressman, an economics professor at Monmouth University, said a study of New Jersey’s 1992 minimum-wage hike found that there was no net negative impact on employment.

MacInnes said that automatic wage increases will ensure that low-income workers won’t lose ground because of inflation. According to his policy group, the wage increase would affect 11 percent of the state’s workforce: 241,000 who currently earn $7.25 to $8.25 an hour and 188,000 who earn $8.25 and $9.25 and would likely receive a pay bump.

New Jersey raised its minimum to $7.15 an hour in 2006; it rose again in July 2009 when the federal minimum wage was raised to $7.25. States are not allowed to set rates lower than the federal minimum.

Interviewed at a polling place in Lynd¬hurst, Elaine Benecki, 70, said she voted for the increase because she knows what it is to work for low pay. She worked at a bagel store for $7.50 an hour at the age of 68.

“I had to work. I needed the money,” Benecki said. “But the pay was so low! It barely helped me at all. So, yes, I voted for the minimum wage. No one should have to work that hard for so little money.”

New Jersey voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly supported a $1 increase in the minimum wage, to $8.25 an hour, and amended the state constitution to lock in automatic increases tied to inflation.

With 64 percent of the vote in, 60 percent of voters were saying “yes” to the question, according to The Associated Press.  

Advocates of a higher wage praised the vote as a victory for low-wage workers, and said giving them extra spending power would stimulate the state economy. But opponents said the automatic raises, in particular, would dampen economic activity and job growth by increasing employers’ costs.

“New Jersey’s voters should be thanked tonight for understanding that the state’s low-wage workers need more than $7.25 an hour to survive in this high-cost state,” said Gordon MacInnes, president of the progressive group New Jersey Policy Perspective.

But John Holub, president of the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, said that the automatic cost-of-living increases could be a problem if 1970s-style high inflation ever returns.

“We could have hyperinflation, and businesses will be hit with significant increases in wage costs when the economy is struggling,” Holub said. “But it’ll be in the constitution, and the Legislature wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”

“We predict that raising the minimum wage automatically every year is going to result in losses for small businesses, so we’re really disappointed,” said Laurie Ehlbeck, director of the New Jersey office of the National Federation of Independent Business.

MacInnes said New Jersey is the 20th state to establish a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum of $7.25 and the 11th state to tie future increases automatically to rising costs of living.

As MacInnes suggested, the New Jersey battle reflected a larger movement — both nationally and around the world — to significantly increase the wages of the lowest-paid workers.

President Obama and congressional Democrats support a higher minimum wage, and California, Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island all raised their minimums this year. Minimum-wage campaigns are under way in Canada, Poland, Romania, Germany and India.

As middle-class jobs were lost during the recession, the number of Americans working in minimum-wage jobs more than doubled from 2007 and 2012. About 3.6 million workers, or 4.7 percent of the 75.3 million hourly workers in the country, made the minimum wage in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Holub, of the merchants’ group, said his members already generally pay more than the minimum wage — typically at least $10 an hour. Retailers, he said, could have lived with a law mandating an increase of $1 spread over three years, as Governor Christie suggested after vetoing a bill earlier this year to raise the minimum wage. But he said: “The minimum wage has no business being in the state constitution.”

The state office of the National Federation of Independent Business, which has 7,000 members in New Jersey, said that research by its Washington office found that the wage increase would cost the state 31,000 jobs, more than wiping out any economic benefit from increased spending by low-income workers.

But Steven Pressman, an economics professor at Monmouth University, said a study of New Jersey’s 1992 minimum-wage hike found that there was no net negative impact on employment.

MacInnes said that automatic wage increases will ensure that low-income workers won’t lose ground because of inflation. According to his policy group, the wage increase would affect 11 percent of the state’s workforce: 241,000 who currently earn $7.25 to $8.25 an hour and 188,000 who earn $8.25 and $9.25 and would likely receive a pay bump.

New Jersey raised its minimum to $7.15 an hour in 2006; it rose again in July 2009 when the federal minimum wage was raised to $7.25. States are not allowed to set rates lower than the federal minimum.

Interviewed at a polling place in Lynd¬hurst, Elaine Benecki, 70, said she voted for the increase because she knows what it is to work for low pay. She worked at a bagel store for $7.50 an hour at the age of 68.

“I had to work. I needed the money,” Benecki said. “But the pay was so low! It barely helped me at all. So, yes, I voted for the minimum wage. No one should have to work that hard for so little money.”