EEF’s latest figures for the 3 months to the end of August 2008 show that the average level of pay settlements was 3.3%, slightly higher that the figure of 3.1% reported for the 3 months to the end of July. This was also the highest figure that had been reported since October 2007.
In this period, the number of companies reporting that they had deferred their pay settlement was nearly 9% of all settlements, the same figure that had been reported for the previous 3 month period. However, the number of companies reporting pay freezes fell quite sharply to 3.6% of all settlements, the lowest level reported since October 2007.
Commenting on these latest figures, David Yeandle, EEF Head of Employment Policy, said:-
“Although manufacturing pay settlements are rising slightly, they are still at a relatively low level in historical terms. There are no signs that wage inflationary pressures are building up in this sector."
|
Settlement level - per cent |
Number of settlements |
|
Zero (pay freeze) |
5 |
|
0.01-2.00 |
7 (2 at 2 per cent exactly) |
|
2.01-3.00 |
51 (35 at 3 per cent exactly) |
|
3.01-4.00 |
51 (14 at 4 per cent exactly) |
|
4.01 or more |
24 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The September 2008 Pay Bulletin contains information on 138 settlements covering 20,556 employees. Of these, the average settlement was 3.1% in both June and July 2008 and 3.3% in August 2008 although the figures for both June and August are based on very small samples. These figures may be subject to revision to take into account settlements for this period that have not yet been received.