The rate of pay growth slipped in the three months to February but the proportion of companies freezing remuneration fell, a study of pay deals by Incomes Data Services showed on Thursday.

Based on 94 wage settlements covering 279,513 employees, the survey showed the median pay rise over the period was 1.8 percent, down from 2.0 percent in the three months to January.

However the percentage of firms pushing through wage freezes fell to 34 percent from 37 percent under the impact of higher inflation and a recovery in output.

"The proportion of freezes looks like it may be falling, though there are clear differences between manufacturing and services," said Ken Mulkearn, editor of the IDS Pay Report. .

"The likely influences here are a recovery in manufacturing output, with short-time working winding down, and higher inflation."

The median pay rise in manufacturing was 2.0 percent, double that for private services. While nearly a fifth of settlements in manufacturing were either at or above 3 percent, no settlements were recorded at this level in private services.

Public sector pay awards were much lower than last year, coming in at just 0.4 percent once long-term wage settlements, such as those in place for National Health Service staff, were excluded.

"We can already see the impact of the government's pay squeeze on public sector settlements," said Mulkearn.

IDS is owned by Sweet & Maxwell, a division of Thomson Reuters which provides data for legal and professional services markets in Britain and Ireland.