Amazon bumps US minimum wage to $15 amid scarce labor



Online retail giant Amazon announced Tuesday it would raise its starting wage for US workers to $15 an hour, amid long-standing criticism of low pay, and would advocate for a higher minimum wage nationwide.

The pay raise will apply to 250,000 employees starting November 1 and to the more than 100,000 seasonal workers the company expects to hire for the holiday shopping season, it said.