JUNEAU – Alaska’s minimum wage will rise by a nickel, to $9.80 an hour, beginning Jan. 1.

Voters in 2014 approved increasing the minimum wage from $7.75 an hour. Under the measure, the minimum wage rose to $8.75 an hour in 2015 and to $9.75 an hour at the start of 2016. Going forward, the wage is to be adjusted annually for inflation.

In a release, state labor commissioner Heidi Drygas called the bump to $9.80 an hour a modest increase that will protect low-wage workers and their families against inflation.

Heather Beaty, executive director of the Alaska Workforce Investment Board, say...