By Anna Prior
Gap Inc. said it would raise the minimum hourly rate for U.S.
employees to $9 in 2014 and $10 in 2015.
The raise will be enacted across all six of the retailer's
brands and will affect about 65,000 store employees, the company
said.
Gap's announcement comes amid a broader national debate about
the minimum wage, sparked in part by President Barack Obama's push
to raise the federal minimum wage as outlined in his State of the
Union address in January.
Mr. Obama earlier this month signed an executive order to raise
the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors to $10.10 an
hour beginning Jan. 1, 2015, from the current federal minimum wage
of $7.25, which hasn't been raised since 2009. Mr. Obama also urged
Congress to increase the minimum wage for the whole country.
Gap, for its part, said this isn't a political issue, with Chief
Executive Glenn Murphy saying its decision to invest in frontline
employees "will directly support our business, and is one that we
expect to deliver a return many times over."
Gap shares ended Wednesday at $41.19 and were flat in recent
after-hours trading. Through the close, the stock has risen 29% in
the last 12 months.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires