Mexico to raise base wage, new leader pledges more hikes to come

Mexico’s wage commission said on Monday it planned to hike the country’s minimum wage by 16 percent to around $5 a day and new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pledged further rises to keep up with inflation.

The $0.71-a-day raise, the biggest in percentage terms since 1996, followed two hikes of around 10 percent by the previous government also aimed at boosting the purchasing power of low-income workers.

Persistently low salaries for many Mexicans stoked the frustration that led to the landslide election of leftist Lopez Obrador, who has pledged to raise living standards . . .