Manufacturing pay settlements have remained stable at 2.6% throughout the first three months of 2006, figures from the EEF manufacturing organisation showed. The average level of settlements, based on 529 payments and covering 69,586 employees, was unchanged from the previous quarter. David Yeandle, deputy director of employment policy at EEF, said: “The fact that manufacturing pay settlements have been stable at an historically low level of 2.6% during the first quarter of this year reflects the tough economic conditions that companies are facing and the downward pressures on margins with which they are having to cope.” The number of companies reporting that they had frozen pay during this latest three month period also fell slightly to one in 12. The average settlement was 2.6% in January 2006 and 2.7% in both February and March. www.eef.org.uk
