Just 22% of American workers are looking forward to a Christmas bonus or a pay increase this year. Of that total, a mere 4% anticipate a pay hike, while 18% expect a bonus. An even smaller overall percentage — 17% — say they plan to spend that money.

Skepticism about the strength of the job recovery is causing workers either to save more cash or to use it to pay down existing debt. According to data released Tuesday by Bankrate.com, 35% of workers who expect a pay increase or bonus this holiday season plan to add the cash to their savings, another 22% say they will use the money to pay down debt and 19% will use the cash to pay bills.

Bankrate.com cites research and policy director Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute:

The headline unemployment rate is a notably rosier indicator than lots of other measures of labor market slack, including the really slow pace of wage growth the last 5 to 6 years. I still see a labor force that seems really cowed, that seems to think the economy is really fragile and is not at all confident that they would be able to find something like an equivalent job if they lost the one they have now.

The survey also indicated that 90% of American workers don’t hate their jobs. Michael Ettinger of the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy said:

In some ways, it’s an encouraging sign that 90% of workers aren’t miserable where they are. That just 10% are deeply dissatisfied with where they are isn’t a particularly high number. That’s a sign of a stronger labor market.

That, we suppose, soothes the 78% of U.S. workers who are not receiving a bonus or a pay raise this Christmas.

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