Mexican minimum wage in 2015 will be $4.68 USD daily

*Content updated Dec. 21*
Guadalajara -
Mexico's National Minimum Wage Commission (Conasami) decided Friday to recommend the raising of mandatory 2015 compensation by 4.25%, slightly above the anticipated 3.54% inflation predicted for the year ahead by the nation's central bank, the Bank of Mexico (Banixco).

Mexico is divided into two economic zones for minimum wage purposes, with workers in metropolitan zones where the cost of living is higher receiving more for their labor. In Zone A, which includes Mexico City and Guadalajara, the new minimum will be 70.10 pesos on Jan. 1. In Zone B it will rise to 66.45 pesos. The mid-range daily wage will thus be 68.28 pesos in 2015. At today's exchange rate of 14.6 pesos to the dollar, that's $4.68 USD per day, $140.40 per month and $1,684.80 annually.

The lower dollar value when compared to Mexico's 2014 minimum wage is due to the peso's recent dramatic decline. U.S. dollar skyrockets against sliding Mexican peso.

Article 123 of Mexico's federal constitution provides that "The general minimum wage must be sufficient to satisfy the normal material, social, and cultural needs of the head of a family and to provide for the compulsory education of his children." In many jurisdictions, that is far from the economic reality most must face. Over 60% of Jaliscans earn less than subsistence income.

Senate leaders of the center right National Action Party (PAN) and the far left Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) Friday called Conasami's proposed 4.25% 2015 minimum wage increase "insufficient to respond to the needs and demands of ordinary citizens."

"From the Senate we reiterate our conviction and desire that the minimum wage be raised to a level which will increase the quality of life for millions of Mexican families," a coalition spokesman said.

One PRD senator is pushing for a 23% minimum wage increase in 2015. Some economic experts point out that the real purchasing power of the Mexican peso fell 67.5% between 1982 and 2014, in sharp contrast to the 54% it rose between 1934 and 1982. The average citizen has suffered greatly as a result.

The Zone A minimum wage (70.10 pesos daily) will also apply in the Pacific coast states of Baja California and Baja California Sur, throughout Guerrero state, including Acapulco, and in Ciudad Juárez, on Mexico's northern border.

Other Zone A pay sites: Gudalajara, Puerto Vallarta, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Hermosillo, Sonora; Matamoros, Reynosa, Tamaulipas and Veracruz.

Zone B pay sites (66.45 pesos daily) will include Aguascalientes, Campeche, Coahuila, Colima, Chiapas, Durango, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, all of Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Tabasco, Tlaxcala, all of Yucatán and Zacatecas.

Dec. 15, 2014 - Yucatán employers pay lowest wages in Mexico
Aug. 29, 2014 - Proposal for minimum wage increase finds impetus in Mexico's Federal District
Dec. 20, 2013 - Mexican minimum wage in 2014 will be $5 dollars - a day

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