If you're living off your investments, things are pretty good right now. However, if you're one of those losers who depends on a paycheck....

Don't expect much of a raise

Employees won't be seeing signs of an economic turnaround in their paychecks anytime soon. After enduring the lowest pay raises in nearly 30 years, workers should expect only modest hikes in 2004.

Three recent surveys of employers show that raises will be small:

• Employee pay raises are projected at about 3.6%, according to a September survey of 1,276 companies by human resource consultants Hewitt Associates. Salary increases in 2003 averaged 3.4% and were the smallest in 27 years....

Similarly, in a poll of more than 1,700 companies, Mercer Human Resource Consulting found average pay hikes in 2004 would be about 3.5%. That marks the third consecutive year that annual pay increases have fallen below 4%....

• Employers also are becoming more frugal with bonuses and other spot incentives: Company spending on performance-based pay was only about 8.8% of payroll this year, down from 10.8% in 2001, Hewitt found.

• Another survey of 1,160 small firms by the National Federation of Independent Business found only 10% plan to give raises in the next three months.

It's a double whammy for employees, who also are paying more for health insurance....

The good news: Pay freezes are thawing, because employers are somewhat more optimistic the economy will turn around....

--USA Today

I love that -- "fewer pay freezes" is the good news.