Target Raises Minimum Wage to $9 an Hour

It’s been just one month since Walmart announced that it was raising its minimum wage to $9 an hour. Now, Target is following suit with a new announcement that its stores will also offer a minimum wage of $9 an hour, and the wage will go into effect next month.

To quote The Wall Street Journal:

Target Corp. plans to boost pay of all its workers to at least $9 an hour starting next month, following similar moves by rivals Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and TJX Cos. as competition for lower wage workers heats up.

The WSJ also notes that this represents “rising competition for lower paid workers.” Wow. I guess this really is Economics 101 in action: as demand goes up, wages go up.

When Time reported on this story, it called Target “the second largest retailer in the U.S.” The largest, of course, is Walmart, but I had no idea Target had taken the second place. What about McDonalds, currently suing the city of Seattle so it can put off raising its employees’ wages? (I haven’t forgotten about that story, y’all. I search “McDonalds lawsuit Seattle” nearly every morning to see if there are any new developments to share with you.)

More from Time:

The move will be cheered by labor groups who have been pushing the company to offer higher pay. Women’s advocacy group UltraViolet recently ran a web campaign that pointed potential customers towards competitors. One banner ad read, “Did you know there’s a Walmart near you that pays higher minimum wage than Target?”

UltraViolet had better keep those banner ads around, though; Walmart plans to raise its minimum wage to $10 next year. I wonder if Target will follow its lead.

Photo credit: Kevin Dooley

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