Wednesday afternoon we hit the streets in Jefferson City asking people when they got their last pay raise. Most told us it had not happened in years or they just couldn't remember.
Lori Norman said, “I don't want to say this on camera because they might see it, but it has been a while”.
Brent Hemphill told us he gets a raise when he works more, "I'm my own boss so I have to give myself a pay raise."
Last year the average pay raise was just two percent. Dennis Smith told us he is unemployed but he thinks something bad is going on, “The ceo's are taking all of the money, you know the chief executives are getting to much money and stuff of that nature, and the little man is just doing what he's doing, he's just working and the brains of the operation is just taking all of glory and all of the money."
We wanted to talk to a small business person who makes decisions about pay raises and and cost cutting every day. So, we stopped by a local bar, J. Pfinny's, its on High Street in Jefferson City.
Manager, Jay Cheshire told us he likes to keep good employees, “The best thing I can say, its all about time and performance, a lot of times an employee that can stay with you for a longer period of time, one who has been loyal to you and has a good work ethic, they might be a little easier to justify spending a little extra money to keep such and employee.”
Cheshire said a good work ethic also goes a long way.
Original Story:
These days it seems like the cost of everything is going up. Food and gas prices and other cost of living expenses have been rising for years but our salaries don’t reflect the same change. The average salary raise last year was just two percent.
A monthly survey shows consumers are losing faith that the economy will keep improving.
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell to 60.8 from a revised 66 in April on worries about jobs and inflation for groceries and gasoline. Economists had expected an increase to 67.
Results from the survey have been choppy in recent months, rising in April but falling in March. But before that the measure had risen for five consecutive months and hit a three-year high in February.
The index is still far from the reading of 90 that indicates a healthy economy. It hasn't approached that level since the recession began in December 2007.
Tell us what your experience has been, are you getting raises? Have you been told by your employer you will be getting a raise, a pay freeze, or pay decrease? Let us know what is going on out there.
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