Amazon Raises Hourly Wages at Cost of Almost $1 Billion a Year

Amazon.com Inc. announced a pay increase for hourly workers in the US that it says will take average starting wage for most front-line employees in warehousing and transportation to more than $19 an hour.

The company’s minimum level of $15 an hour for all hourly workers in the US remains unchanged. For jobs in Amazon’s customer fulfillment and transportation groups, the starting pay will increase to $16 an hour, a spokesperson said Wednesday in an email.

The Seattle-based company said the raise represents additional spending of almost $1 billion over the next year. Amazon is the second-largest private employer in ...