The state Labor Department says Maine's minimum wage will increase by a quarter an hour to $7.25 as of Oct. 1.

The increase from $7 will be the first in a two-step increase that will lift Maine's minimum wage to $7.50 per hour in October 2009. It is the third minimum wage increase signed into law by Gov. John Baldacci.

The Labor Department says about 26,000 Maine workers have earnings at or below the minimum wage. Some minimum wage earners are teens employed at their first jobs, but most are adult workers.

Some employers are exempt from paying the minimum wage.