SHANGHAI - Shanghai said Monday that it will raise the monthly minimum wage for workers by 13 percent to 1,450 yuan ($232), following pay hikes announced by several other cities in recent months to ease a labor shortage and buffer the impact of inflation.

Shanghai's human resources and social security bureau said in a statement that the city's minimum wage, as well as social insurance and housing subsidy, will remain among the highest in the country once the pay hike goes into effect this April.

The minimum wage will not include overtime pay and subsidies for working under hazardous conditions, according to the statement.

The city also plans to raise the monthly social security allowances for impoverished urban and rural residents by 12.87 percent and 19.44 percent, respectively, to 570 yuan and 430 yuan, the statement said. Only those who are extremely poor and have no marketable job skills are entitled to such allowances.

Severe labor shortages, sporadic strikes and rising living costs in cities have prompted wage hikes throughout China over the past two years. The southern economic hub of Shenzhen raised the minimum monthly wage by 13.6 percent this month, allowing full-time workers to earn no less than 1,500 yuan.

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