The national minimum wage is to be increased to $15,000 per week from $13,000 effective June 1, 2024.

The announcement was made Thursday evening by Prime Minister Andrew Holness as he concluded his Budget Debate presentation in the House of Representatives.

“I’m pleased to announce a further increase to the minimum wage…per 40-hour week,” Holness said to sustained applause from the Government benches. He noted that this represented an increase of 15 per cent.

At the same time, the prime minister announced that the minimum wage for industrial security guards will move from $14,000 per week to $15,000 as of June 1. When the last increase was granted, the government had indicated that that would have been the last occasion when there was a difference in the national minimum wage and that paid to industrial security guards.

The prime minister said the Government thought carefully about the increase and thought it was necessary “to keep our working class and our poorest abreast with inflation”.

He said that during campaigning for the February 26 Local Government Election, it was made clear that “many of our working poor were having it really, really difficult”.