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Annual review of pay trends 2008/09: pay freezes dominate

Our review of the 2008/09 bargaining year exposes the dramatic effect of the economic crisis on pay. Both pay awards and inflation have plummeted and a pay freeze has been the median award for the first time in the 25-year history of the IRS pay databank.

On this page:
The end of pay stability
Chart 1: IRS pay settlement analysis, September 2007 to September 2009
Pay freezes account for one-third of settlements
Chart 2: Pay freezes/cuts as a proportion of settlements, September 2008 to August 2009
Chart 3: Pay settlements weighted by employee numbers, September 2008 to September 2009
Pay cuts remain rare
What a difference a year makes
Chart 4: Comparison of 2007/08 and 2008/09 bargaining rounds
Private sector pay awards collapse
Pay awards and inflation
Chart 5: The link between pay and inflation, September 2007 to September 2009
IRS pay databank: key findings
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Table 1: Whole-economy pay awards, September 2007 to August 2008
Table 2: Whole-economy pay awards, September 2008 to September 2009
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