With the flip of the calendar some people in Connecticut got a raise of 45 cents an hour, as the minimum wage rose to $9.15.
Natasha Santana works for minimum wage at Walgreen's while she attends UConn West Hartford, and for her the raise is welcome.
"I'm a college student," she said, "so it's going to go towards paying for my car and my insurance and gas and stuff. So it's pretty useful."
Another woman loading her car with groceries for a New Year's Day brunch said the higher minimum wage might lift her take home pay too.
"I'm hoping that my boss will be extra generous to me this year," said Zethelyn Monts. "I work two jobs so one of them better pay off. All my life since I was 16 I did two jobs and went to school. So I have to do what I have to do as a single parent."
Lindsay Elias held onto her three-year-old son as they waited for a bus on Albany Avenue in Hartford. She's trying to be positive about what the higher minimum wage might mean as she looks for a job.
"I'd accept anything at this moment because I'm on cash assistance," she said, explaining that's $448 a month. "Any penny is worth anything, especially when you got a kid and you're single."
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The minimum wage goes to $9.60 in 2016 in Connecticut, then $10.10 in 2017.