Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Little Changed to End Holiday-Shortened Week; Gold, Silver Hit New Record Highs

Expecting a Big Raise in 2026? Don’t Count on It

1 minute ago

Employers in the year ahead are likely to remain reluctant to embark on any major hiring sprees, and the lack of demand for workers should serve to keep a lid on pay increases.

Several major forecasts and surveys of employers largely call for the continuation of the job market’s recent trends, in which hiring has slowed to a crawl compared to the last few years. Employers have been reluctant to hire too many workers, but also wary of mass layoffs, as economic uncertainty caused by unpredictable tariff policies has made planning future expansions difficult.

U.S. employers plan to give raises averaging 3.3%, a tenth of a percentage point lower than in 2025, according to a survey by payroll software company Payscale.

Forecasters at jobs website Indeed expect the job market to remain in low gear over the next year, with job openings stabilizing rather than continuing to decline, and unemployment rising, but not too much. None of that would push employers to give out huge pay raises like they did in 2022 when labor was in high demand, and the economy was reopening from the pandemic.

Wage growth, as measured by salaries advertised in job postings, has cooled down over the last year, according to Indeed.

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–Diccon Hyatt

Stock Futures Little Changed to End Holiday-Shortened Week

54 minutes ago

Futures contracts associated with the Dow Jones Industrial Average pointed down 0.1%.

S&P 500 futures were fractionally lower.

Nasdaq 100 futures were fractionally higher.