The American Samoa Chamber of Commerce says the mandatory minimum wage hike has had little impact on its members, with the exception of the canneries.
The wage increase went into effect on October 1st and raises the minimum wage across 17 industries by 40 cents.
The Chamber of Commerce chair, David Robinson, says he did a straw poll of a cross section of the membership and most report they'd been planning for the rise, and are not greatly impacted.
"A lot of them of course have been paying over and above the minimum wage anyway, and it would seem that the only impact it had for some of the companies there, was in the case of new hires, and maybe that it was only four or five in each of those companies who were affected, so it wasn't a serious impact as it could have been."
The chair of the American Samoa Chamber of Commerce, David Robinson.
Ngaire Ho Ching of Neil's Ace Home Centre, which employs about 120 people, says they'd been preparing for the wage hike since 2007.
