Manufacturing sector pay freezes on the increase

According to the latest figures from the manufacturers' organisation EEF and JAM Recruitment, the average pay settlement for the three months to the end of September was 2.5%, the same as the figure for the three months to the end of August. But the data for the three months to September also shows that pay freezes have increased to around one in six settlements, compared to one in 10 settlements int he previous three-month period to the end of August. EEF cautioned that the survey was based on a smaller sample than usual and that the trend would need to be maintained to be a concrete sign of a response to deteriorating business conditions. The organisation's chief economist Lee Hopley said that signs of pay freezes increasing could be a first indication of companies responding to the growing economic uncertainty over seen over the summer months.