Walmart to raise its minimum wage for U.S. hourly workers to $14

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) plans to raise its average hourly wages for its U.S. store workers starting next month from $12 to $14 per hour in response to the current tight labor market. Walmart employs 1.6 million U.S. workers, a majority of whom work in rural and semi-urban areas.

That wage hikes lifts Walmart’s average hourly wage pay to $17.50. The minimum wage will rise by as much as $2 for staff at its U.S. stores to a range of $14-$19 per hour, depending on location. About 340,000 workers at about 3,000 stores will be eligible.

Walmart’s new round of hikes come six months after it raised the average pay for pharmacy workers to more than $20 per hour and said it would offer more frequent and automatic pay raises as part of a new “progressive wage model” to fight labor shortages. This mega retailer has previously also raised pay for truck drivers and distribution center workers.