Manufacturing pay settlements back up to after four-year dip, says EEF

According to the latest data from EEF and JAM Recruitment, the average pay settlement for the three months to the end of April was 2.8%, up from 2.6% for the previous three months to the end of March. The last time the average settlement was at this level was in November 2008, having touched a three-month low of just 0.4% towards the end of 2009. The data also shows that pay freezes are remaining constant at just under one in 10 settlements, while deferred settlements have fallen to just over 4% of the total. Four-fifths of settlements are at or below 3%. Commenting on the latest figures, EEF chief economist Lee Hopley said: "The fact it has taken the best part of four years for pay settlements to get back to even the long-term average shows the extreme pressure that companies have been under to control their internal costs. There is little doubt that the economic realism amongst both employers and employees during this period has helped in no small measure to maintain employment and skills that might otherwise have been lost."