CONCORD - New Hampshire minimum wage will increase to $7.25 on Sept. 1, in accordance with a law signed last year by Gov. John Lynch.

“Our working families are struggling to cope with the rapidly increasing costs of their basic needs, especially gasoline, heating fuel and food. This increase in the state’s minimum wage will help provide some relief for New Hampshire’s hard working families and will help to make New Hampshire a place of opportunity for all of our citizens,” Gov. Lynch said.

In May 2007, Gov. Lynch signed New Hampshire’s minimum wage law, raising the rate in increments from $5.15 an hour to $6.50 on Sept. 1, 2007, and then to $7.25 on Sept. 1, 2008.

Prior to the law’s passage, the rate had not been raised in over a decade and New Hampshire was the only state in the Northeast whose minimum wage rate was just $5.15 an hour. The increase to $7.25 will put New Hampshire ahead of the current federal rate of $6.55 an hour.

“The Governor made raising the minimum wage increase a priority, and with his support and the support of the legislature, the increase in the minimum wage is making a positive impact on the lives of 17,000 of our citizens,” said New Hampshire Labor Commissioner George Copadis.