Jobs & pay: According to Surabhi Mathur Gandhi, general manager, permanent staffing, at Bangalore-based TeamLease Services, there could be a 25-30% drop in the hiring of freshers by the IT, banking, financial services, and insurance sectors. Moreover, pay hikes next year will be much more conservative than earlier. On an average, average pay hikes may be pegged at round about 10%, or even less, says E Balaji, chief executive officer of Chennai based HR consulting firm Ma Foi Consultants.

Infaltion : Currently, inflation stands at 12.14%. Experts feel it might go up even further. Says Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist, Bank of Baroda, "I think the scanty rainfall in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh will add to price pressures with the prices of pulses, edible oils and sugar going up. This could see inflation rising to 14.5% by December-end."

Interest rates: When inflation remains high, interest rates will not come down too easily. "I think rates will start coming down only from the next financial year," adds Nisture. Hence, those looking for lower home loan EMIs will have to wait. On the other side, fixed deposits are likely to give you greater returns. On the bright side, however, with the world economy slowing down, interest rates have probably peaked - and that could be the case in India, too. This may be the time to lock into variable rate loans, since you could benefit from any downtrend - whenever that happens. Fixed-rate loans may not be a great idea anymore.

Gold: Demand for the yellow metal is usually low in India during the inauspicious `shraadh' period, but this year the trend has reversed as a result of the American banking crisis. The bad news in America has forced investors to transit to safer havens such as gold. Gold prices jumped by Rs 1,265 per 10 gm on Thursday to Rs 13,020, a rise never seen before in a single day.