Settlements stay at 3%, but for how much longer? - Pay awards remained locked on 3% in the final quarter of 2000, but early indications from the New Year wage round suggest that pressures may be mounting. Provisional figures from the IRS databank indicate that January deals are running at 3.5%, a rise of 0.5 percentage points on December's headline rate. But, given the prospects for inflation, it seems unlikely that any upturn in settlements will be sustained for more than a short period.