PAY DATA
Private sector pay settlements show slight upward trend
The latest analysis of wage settlements from IDSPay.co.uk shows continued stability in private sector pay awards, but there are tell-tale signs that the proportion of “higher-end deals” is increasing.
The IDS measure of whole economy pay awards (the median level of pay settlement) for the three months to the end of July 2010 remains at 2%, unchanged from June. “With inflation still around 5%, fewer employers are freezing pay and more are awarding increases of 3% and above,” IDS says.
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More "higher-end" awards
The latest analysis shows that more employers are awarding higher-end pay increases, and that wage freezes are now less common:
more than 30% of pay deals recorded between May and July are worth 3% or above
70% are at or above the median of 2%
the proportion of pay freezes has continued to fall, and now stands at just under 15% of deals.
Summary of key settlement data
For the three months to the end of July 2010, based on 48 settlements covering 370,000 employees in total, the key IDS statistics are these:
Whole economy median: 2.0%
Whole economy average: 2.1%
Whole economy inter-quartile range: 1.5% to 3%
Manufacturing and production median: 2%
Private services median: 2.2%
A final word
“As we might expect in the aftermath of a serious recession, basic pay increases remain modest. But the recovery in the business outlook and higher inflation are combining to place a certain amount of upward pressure on private sector awards. These are the main factors behind the growth in the proportion of higher-end settlements, and the continued drop in the proportion of freezes.” - Ken Mulkearn, Editor of IDS Pay Report, whose staff collect and analyse the pay settlement data for IDSPay.co.uk.
Want to know more?
IDSPay.co.uk is an online source of all the remuneration data collected by IDS, on pay settlements, pay levels and executive compensation. Visit www.IDSPay.co.uk.
IDS Pay Report, published fortnightly, is the “UK's leading source of research and analysis on pay and benefits across the economy”.
Incomes Data Services is the “leading UK information and research service on employment issues, providing a range of publications for employers, trade unions, government departments and other agencies”. For more details visit www.incomesdata.co.uk.