Amazon ups hourly wage to $15, will advocate for higher pay

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is boosting its minimum wage for all U.S. workers to $15 per hour starting next month and said it will push for an increase in the federally mandated minimum wage, which now stands at $7.25 per hour.

The company, whose value topped $1 trillion briefly in September, was facing political and economic pressure to raise pay for thousands of employees.

"We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and CEO.

The wage hike also comes at a time Amazon needs to hire holiday workers amid the tightest job market in nearly two decades, making it more difficult to lure workers who have a lot more job choices than just a year ago.