Pay
settlements in the engineering and manufacturing sector have risen slightly to
around 2.5 per cent, according to the latest figures from the Engineering
Employers Federation (EEF).
The
average settlement level for the three months to the end of April 2003 was 2.5
per cent – the same as the revised figure for the previous three months – but
marginally higher than the figure of 2.4 per cent for this year’s first couple
of months.
Over
this latest three-month period, the number of pay freezes increased to nearly
one in seven of all reported settlements. Those companies reporting they had
deferred settlements also increased very slightly to 6.0 per cent of all
reported settlements.
The
May 2003 Pay Bulletin looked at 267 settlements affecting 41,445 employees. Of
these, the average level of settlements was 2.8 per cent in both February and
March, and 2.4 per cent in April.
