Raises on the Rise

If you got a bigger raise this year than last year, you're not alone. According to the human-resources consulting firm Aon Hewitt, the average raise received by salaried American workers this year is 2.4 percent. In 2009, by contrast, that same worker got an average raise of just 1.8 percent. According to another survey, the average raise is expected to rise modestly again, to 2.7 percent, in 2010.

The 2009 figure was the lowest in the history of the survey. So in a way, there was nowhere to go but up.

Aon Hewitt also reports that it is getting hired significantly more often to give compensation advice in 2010, which it calls a good signal for the recovery. Put together, if people are getting bigger raises and companies are hiring more top-salaried employees, that's a sign that we may be seeing the first rumblings of a solid increase in employment.