Pay awards are continuing to stagnate, and lagged behind inflation in the three months to August, according to latest data. The statistics from Brightmine show the median basic pay award holding at 3% for the three months to August, despite inflation remaining stable at 3.8%. The squeeze on pay is coinciding with both CPI and RPI inflation measures reaching their highest levels in more than a year. Sheila Attwood, the company’s HR insights and data lead, said: “Pay awards have remained remarkably stable throughout 2025, with the median stuck at 3% across successive quarters. Drilling down into the data, almost a third of pay awards (32.1%) were clustered at the 3% marked.