Amazon to raise minimum wage to $15 for U.S. employees

Amazon.com Inc said on Tuesday it is raising its minimum wage to $15 per hour for all U.S. employees including full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees, starting Nov. 1.

The increased raise comes at a time when the "Fight for Fifteen" movement — a union-led push for a $15 minimum wage — has been gaining traction in cities across the country.

The new minimum wage will benefit more than 250,000 employees in the U.S., as well as over 100,000 seasonal employees who will be hired at Amazon sites across the country this holiday, the company said in a statement.

"We will be working to gain Congressional support for an increase in the federal minimum wage. The current rate of $7.25 was set nearly a decade ago," said Jay Carney, senior vice president of Amazon global corporate affairs.

Retailer Target Corp raised its minimum hourly wage last year to $11 and promised to raise it to $15 an hour by the end of 2020 while the world's largest retailer and private employer Walmart raised its minimum wage to $11 an hour earlier this year.