Small Raises

It's not just federal employees who are looking at fairly small pay raises in this economy. The Washington Post reports today that in the Washington region, salaries as a whole have gone up by only 2.28 percent this year, compared with 3.52 percent last year. Hiring is on the upswing, but with the labor market still tight, employers are shrinking the available pool of money for raises -- sometimes to nothing.

Also, many companies are reserving the raises they do give out to high-performing employees. And this is in a region where the local economy is strong compared to many other areas of the country.