DENVER (AP) -- Colorado officials have confirmed that the state next year will become the first to lower its minimum wage because of a falling cost of living.

The state Department of Labor and Employment ordered the wage down from $7.28 to $7.24. That's lower than the federal minimum wage of $7.25, so most minimum wage workers will lose 3 cents an hour.

Colorado is one of 10 states where the minimum wage is tied to inflation. The indexing is thought to protect low-wage workers from having flat wages as the cost of living goes up.

But because Colorado's provision allows wage declines, the minimum wage will drop because of a falling consumer price index.

It will be the first decrease in any state since the federal minimum wage law was passed in 1938.

Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)