Modest salary growth forecast for ’08

U.S. workers should expect a pay raise anywhere between 3.3 percent and 4.2 percent in 2008, according to the Salary.com national salary budget survey. The survey revealed that 64 percent of companies plan no change in their payroll budgets between 2007 and 2008, 26 percent planned an increase and 10 percent said they planned a reduction. The largest raises, 4.2 percent, will go to professional, scientific and technical service employees, while the smallest, 3.4 percent, will be had by employees in the arts, entertainment and recreation industries.