Pay settlements show slight decrease despite gradually improving economic environment says EEF

Pay settlements in engineering and manufacturing have decreased slightly according to the latest figures from the EEF
For the three months to the end of August, the level of settlements has fallen slightly to 2.3%, down from the figure for the previous three months of 2.4%. This is the lowest figure for nearly 12 months.

In addition, the number of pay freezes has increased to almost 18% of settlements, the highest figure for more than 12 months. Pay deferrals have also remained at a relatively high level of nearly 6%, the highest figure since January 2003.

Deputy Director of Employment Policy, David Yeandle, said:

"These figures show that, despite the gradually improving economic outlook, many manufacturing companies are still facing a difficult business environment which requires them to manage their controllable costs carefully."

Settlement level - per cent

Number of settlements

Zero (pay freeze)

30

0.01-2.00

24 ( 21 settlements at 2 per cent exactly)

2.01-3.00

84 ( 39 at 3 per cent exactly)

3.01-4.00

26 ( 2 at 4 per cent exactly)

4.01 or more

5

Notes for editors

The September 2003 Pay Bulletin analyses 169 settlements in the three month period to the end of August affecting 22,419 employees Of these, the average level of settlements was 1.8% in June, 2.5% in July and 2.4% in August, with the figures for both June and August based on relatively small samples. These figures may be liable for revision to take into account settlements for this period that have not yet been received.