Average wage deals held steady at 2.5% in the three months to the end of July, according to Incomes Data Services (IDS).
The employment analysis service said that median awards have remained the same since the start of the year but noted that settlements in the lower quartile rose from 1.5% in the three months to June to 2% in the latest analysis period.
Two thirds of all deals were worth between 2 and 3% inclusive, while 24% of settlements were worth exactly 2%.
Workers in the manufacturing sector enjoyed the highest wage rises, with a median increase of 2.9%.
The median rate lags considerably behind that rate of inflation which rose to 4.4% last month, up from 4.2% in June. Economists expect the Consumer Price Index to rise above the 5% mark later in the year.
For the first time since the beginning of the recession in 2008, no pay freezes were recorded in the private sector in the quarter to the end of July, compared with 6% of deals a month earlier.
Pay freezes continued in the public and not-for-profit sector.
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.”
Similar Posts:
- Employment dropped in August
- New Home Sales Hit Record Low
- Orders for equipment rise 2% in May, but economy still sluggish
- 616,839 Trial Loan Modifications Canceled Under HAMP
- Steve Jobs on suicide-plagued Apple manufacturing plant: It’s ‘not a sweatshop’
