The pace of increases in manufacturing sector pay has slowed, with pay deals in the three months leading to April hitting their lowest level since the end of 2010. 

This is according to new data from EEF - the manufacturers' association, which noted that manufacturing pay has appeared to have gone against the grain of wider economic trends. 

For instance, pay deals in manufacturing averaged at around 2.5 per cent in 2013 and 2014 - a time when wider pay growth appeared to be stalling. 

However, while wider trends now point to pay deals starting to increase, wage growth is only moderate in manufacturing. 

EEF chief economist Lee Hopley said: "A period of pay restraint and weak growth in manufacturing and higher pay increases were awarded to catch up with past pay freezes and to support skills retention."

It was suggested that this could partially account for the differences in pay increase growth.