Roughly 60 percent of all Latino workers are expected to soon receive a raise based on the states of California and New York raising their minimum wages to $15 an hour by the year 2022.

In deals brokered by their respective governors, the measures will make the two states the highest minimum wage paid states in the country.

Million of Workers to be Impacted

In California, researchers predict some 5.6 million workers will benefit from the new law, or roughly 24 percent of the state's overall workforce, while at least 2 million workers in New York will be favorably impacted over time.

"This is a really great step forward that will hopefully spur other states to make similar increases," National Council of La Raza (NCLR) economic analyst Stephanie Roman told the Latin Post. "Lots of hard working families are not being allowed to get ahead."

According to Roman, Latinos currently constitute the highest labor force of so-called concentrated wage jobs, resulting in at least 42 percent of them being paid somewhere in the neighborhood of the minimum wage.

The actions come in the middle of a volatile 2016 presidential election season that has largely been fueled by the fight over income inequality. President Obama, who first proposed such federal increases in 2013, immediately saluted the state's actions and called on the Republican-controlled Congress to "keep up with the rest of the country."

In both states, the increases are slated to be phased in over timed increments.

"This minimum wage increase will be of national significance," said Democratic New York Gov. Mario Cuomo. "It's raising the minimum wage in a way that's responsible."

Those sentiments were echoed by California's executive secretary-treasurer Art Pulaski, who marveled, "California takes a massive leap forward today in the fight to rebalance our nation's economy."

California Gov. Jerry Brown triumphantly announced he plans to instantly sign the bill into law.

Latinos, African-Americans Largely Among Minimum Wage Workers

In all, 42 percent of U.S. workers earn less than $15 an hour, with Latino and African-American workers disproportionately represented among that demographic.

A recent National Employment Law Project study recently found Latinos account for nearly 23 percent of all such workers, even though they only represent 16 percent of the total workforce. In the case of African Americans, researchers found they only make up 12 percent of the total workforce, but account for 15 percent of the sub-$15-wage workforce.

The study also found more than 46 percent of all workers making less than $15 an hour are 35 and older and six out of ten of the largest occupations paying median wages of less than $15 are projected to show the most industry growth over the foreseeable future.

"As the fastest-growing segment of the American workforce, Latinos understand the value of hard work," NCLR president Janet Murguia recently told Fox News. "Unfortunately, there are too many hardworking individuals in this country who struggle to provide basic necessities for their families because they aren't paid a livable wage."

Murguia also took note of the bitter twist that has many Latino workers toiling in some of the economy's most rapidly growing industries, adding, "Those occupations tend to pay below-median wages, leaving full-time workers unable to cover basic needs."

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