SALEM (AP) — Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian says Oregon’s minimum wage will rise by 45 cents to $8.40 an hour beginning Jan. 1.

Avakian says Oregon’s 143,000 minimum-wage earners make up 7.5 percent of the state work force.

The wage is indexed to the cost of living as measured by the August federal Consumer Price Index. The increase is 5.37 percent, reflecting what Avakian describes as the “rapidly rising cost of living facing Oregon workers.”

Under the terms of a 2002 ballot measure, the state adjusts the minimum wage each September, with the new wage getting rounded to the nearest 5 cents.