Pay deals have remained at 2% in recent months, with wage freezes at the lowest level for several years, a study shows.
The median increase is below RPI inflation, but there are some positive signs, said pay analysts XpertHR.
A study of almost 200 settlements showed that around half were higher than a year ago, with fewer than one in 20 resulting in a wage freeze.
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Sheila Attwood of XpertHR said: "Despite some positive signs on pay awards over the last quarter, such is the prevalence of the 2% pay award that we would need a considerable number of higher - or lower - pay awards to pull off a shift in the median from this level.
"Our feeling is that this won't happen in the short term."