Employees in the manufacturing sector have seen a median pay increase of 3% compared to 1.5% of those in the service sector, according to research by XpertHR.
The findings, based on 309 pay awards effective in the three months to the end of May 2011 and covering more than 3.7 million employees, show that the median basic pay award across the economy as a whole stands at 2%.
Pay awards in the services sector are depressed by pay freezes in the public and not-for-profit sectors.
Private sector pay awards were worth 2.5% over the three months to the end of May 2011, unchanged on the previous rolling quarter and showing stability since the beginning of the year.†
More than half (55%) of pay awards are higher than they were for the same group the previous year, 19% are lower and 26% are the same.
Sarah Welfare, deputy editor of XpertHR Pay and Benefits, said: “We are now seeing some higher wage deals in manufacturing, where pay rises have been gradually recovering since pay freezes dominated the sector in 2009-10.
“In contrast, our statistics confirm that it has been a depressing April pay round for public sector workers, where pay freezes are the norm.
“The big picture is one of restrained pay rises, with the whole-economy median of 2% well below the pre-recession level of 3.5%.”
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