News

Pay deals hold steady

Average pay settlements remained constant at 2.5 per cent in the three months from May to July, it has been reported.

Figures released by Income Data Services (IDS), the UK’s leading pay and benefits analyst, showed that wage rises have now been glued to a below-inflation norm for seven months now.

Despite the lack of movement in pay deals generally, the report noted that there were no pay freezes at those private-sector organisations polled in the three months to July 2011, down from the 6 per cent recorded in the quarter to June.

It seems that wage mobility has been at its greatest in manufacturing. The median level for pay awards in the manufacturing sector was 2.9 per cent, while the private services median settlement level was 2.5 per cent, on par with the rest of the economy.

Across the economy, two-thirds of all deals were worth between 2 and 3 per cent, with clusters at each end of this range. Some 24 per cent of deals were worth exactly 2 per cent, while 16 per cent are worth exactly 3 per cent.

Ken Mulkearn, editor of IDS pay report, said: “Pay freezes look to have thawed across most larger employers in the private sector, and the overall picture on the level of awards is fairly stable, with manufacturing and the utilities ahead of services. Meanwhile in the public sector, basic pay remains frozen for most staff.”