Pay deals are expected to increase over the coming months as a result of rising inflation.
Most settlements in the last three months contained rises of at least three per cent, higher than deals being struck at the beginning of the year.
Inflation, now at 3.3 per cent, was expected to remain around this rate until next spring, said analysts Incomes Data Services.
The inflation figure would be a "key benchmark" on pay negotiations for early next year, said the report.
IDS forecast that long-term, inflation-linked deals due to be triggered later this year could bring rises of up to four per cent.
"This is an entirely different context to last autumn, when very low inflation produced unusually low increases in long-term deals such as 1.6 per cent last November at Jaguar," said the report.
Among recent deals monitored by IDS was a review at high street giant Boots, which gave staff merit-based rises of up to seven per cent, and an average 2.5 per cent increase for Marks & Spencer employees.
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