Money Minute: Workers' Wages Inch Up; Netflix Raises Rates

Most workers should expect just a small increase in pay this year.

After adjusting for inflation, most employers expect to give pay hikes of zero to three percent. The good news is: that's actually better than we've seen in recent years. Inflation-adjusted pay actually fell slightly over the past three years. The outlook for hiring is slightly improved, too. The survey by the National Assocation of Business Economics shows 40 percent of employers plan to increase hiring this year.

Netflix (NFLX) is raising prices over the next month or two. It says the monthly cost of its streaming service will go up by $1 or $2, but only for new subscribers. The rate for existing subscribers will hold steady. Amazon.com (AMZN) recently raised the price for its streaming service by $20 a year to $99, but the company's Prime service also includes free two-day shipping for most Amazon purchases. You might recall, the last time Netflix tried to impose a price hike, there was a mini-rebellion, and the company quickly rescinded the increase.

%VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%The United Auto Workers unions has decided not to challenge the vote against unionizing a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee. The union dropped its appeal just before a National Labor Relations Bureau hearing Monday to review the vote by workers there back in February. They had voted down a union by a narrow margin, but the UAW alleged the vote was unfairly influenced by comments from the state's governor and one of its senators.

Here on Wall Street on Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) gained 40 points, the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) rose 26, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) added 7 points. The S&P is now riding a five session winning streak, its best since last October.

Finally, a book on the rising problems created by income inequality by a French economist tops Amazon's best-seller list. The book by Thomas Piketty, "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," has sold out. In fact, it has sold more copies than any other book in the 101-year history of Harvard University Press.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.