Targets Lifts U.S. Minimum Wage to $13 an Hour

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. —Target Corp will raise its U.S. minimum wage to $13 an hour in June, a $1-per-hour increase, which puts pressure on other retailers to follow suit, according to a report in USNews.com.

Target, the eighth largest U.S. retailer by sales and fifth largest by employee count, has 1,845 stores and 300,000-plus workers in the United States. In March 2018, the company raised minimum hourly pay to $12 from $11. The chain has said it is committed to raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour by the end of 2020.

Since July 24, 2009, the federal government has mandated a nationwide minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. But with U.S. unemployment at its lowest level in nearly 50 years, employers in all fields are finding it tougher to attract workers and are facing strong political pressure to pay a fair living wage.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer and the largest U.S. private sector employer, pays entry-level workers $11 an hour, although the company said in February that a Walmart employee earns $17.55 an hour on average with wages and benefits.”

Amazon upped its minimum wage to $15 an hour in October after being criticized for low pay and poor working conditions. The online retailer said at the time that it would lobby Washington for an increase in the federal minimum wage. Other companies also have raised wages, including Costco, which increased its minimum wage twice in a year and since March has been paying employees at least $15 an hour.