The wage bump brings Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, closer to rivals like Amazon, Target, and Costco. The new wage applies to Walmart’s U.S. store and warehouse workers.
- According to a Walmart spokeswoman, the current average hourly wage at Walmart is around $17.
- The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, which was last raised in 2009.
- More than half the states in the U.S. plan to lift their minimum wages in the coming year.
- With the tight labor market, several businesses have had to raise wages to attract and retain workers.
- The unemployment rate fell to 3.5% in December.
- According to the Labor Department, the average hourly wage for nonsupervisory retail workers rose 4% to $19.93 in December compared to last year.
