The next time you are in position for a raise, don't forget to take inflation into account. It's easy to ignore because it's a boiling frog issue.
First thing you need is CPI data from the BLS. They put out monthly press releases that give you the year-over-year change; for example, in May 2007 inflation was 2.7%.
That means if you're getting a raise in June, you need to get at least a 2.7% increase to stay on par to where you've been over the past year. (That being said, 2.7% puts you on par at present, but if inflation rises your "earning power parity" will slip slowly over the coming year unless you're getting raises along the way...)
You can also calculate inflation manually for a time period by taking the current and prior indexes into account: ((current - prior)/prior).
June 2007 CPI data is due out on July 18th.
