Evidently there are still pay hikes during the Great Recession:

According to the first quarter results from Foote Partners, pay for noncertified skills in Linux rose by more than 28%, while Apache and Sybase noncertified skills saw 25% increases in pay. Pay for Java and HTTP skills increased by 20%, while IT professionals with PHP, SAP and Unix noncertified skills experienced a more than 14% pay increase. Certified IT skills that saw pay increases include HP/Certified Systems Engineer with a 14.3% increase in pay, and Sun Certified Programmer for Java Platform, which experienced an increase of 13.5% in pay. IT professionals with EMC Proven Professional certifications experienced a 12.5% increase in pay, as did IBM Certified Specialists. Systems Security Certified Practitioner pay increased in the first quarter by 12.5%.

(emphasis mine)

Since becoming a Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform was already a goal of mine for this year (that being, the next 365 days), I now have some false hope added incentive.