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Ohio's minimum wage for 313,000 employees goes up to $8.10 an hour on Jan. 1.

(Associated Press file)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohio's minimum wage will increase slightly on Jan. 1, which is expected to provide a boost to the state's economy.

As the calendar flips to 2015, Ohio's minimum wage will increase by 15 cents to $8.10 per hour, benefiting an estimated 313,000 low-wage workers in the state, according to a release from the National Employment Law Project, a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that advocates on issues affecting low-wage and unemployed workers. In addition, the minimum wage for tipped workers in Ohio will rise by 7 cents to $4.05 per hour.

The increased consumer spending generated by Ohio's minimum wage increase will boost economic growth by $40.4 million, according to an analysis of Census data by the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute.

Ohio is one of 21 states that will raise their minimum wage rates either on Dec. 31 or Jan. 1, which the National Employment Law Project said will boost wages for a total of 4.4 million workers and generate $1.3 billion in total new economic growth as low-paid workers spend their increased earnings on basic necessities like food, gasoline and housing.

Ohio's minimum wage increase is the result of a state constitutional amendment approved in 2006 that provides for annual rate adjustments to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

"It's great that states and localities are acting to lift wages and boost local economies by raising wages for their residents," Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, said in the release. "But the wage crisis is a national crisis, and one that Congress would wisely address by taking a page from the books of states and localities."

Under the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, supported by President Obama and introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives last year, the federal minimum wage would have increased to $10.10 per hour and adjusted annually to account for inflation. It would also have raised the minimum wage for tipped workers from its current low rate of $2.13 per hour, where it has been since 1991, to 70 percent of the full minimum wage. Republicans blocked debate of the bill in the Senate earlier this year and no action has been taken.