Mayor Bill de Blasio signs order significantly expanding New York City's living wage law

Mayor Bill de Blasio has signed an executive order expanding New York City's living wage law, increasing the hourly rate to $13.13 from $11.90.

The significant expansion, which will cover thousands of previously exempt New Yorkers, fulfilled a campaign promise made by de Blasio, who became the city's first Democratic mayor in a generation when he took office in January. It strengthened a law that was approved by the City Council in 2012.

The new legislation will cover an estimated 18,000 workers over the next five years, about 4,000 of them who are in the retail or fast-foot business. The previous law covered about 1,200 total.

The mayor says the city is "raising the floor for working families struggling to get by."

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Information from: The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com