Idaho Slips to #2 Highest Minimum Wage Jobs

BOISE (AP/KTVB) -- Idaho no longer holds the dubious distinction of the state with the highest share of workers earning the minimum wage.

The Gem State slipped to the No. 2 spot in 2013 as workers making the nationally-mandated minimum fell from 31,000 in 2012 to 29,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But 7.1 percent of Idaho hourly workers still brought in $7.25 per hour or less last year -- that's well above the national average of 4.3 percent.

In Tennessee, which rose to the top spot, 7.4 percent of hourly workers earn the minimum wage.

Two of every three jobs created in Idaho last year were in the service industry, work that typically pays about $10,000 less than what employees would make in a construction or manufacturing position.