P.M. BRIEFING : Collective Bargaining Yields 3.1% Average Raise, Government Says

Contracts settled through collective bargaining in the last three months provided workers average annual pay raises of 3.1% during the life of the pacts, the government said today.

The Labor Department report provided additional data suggesting that the rate of wage gains was picking up and placing inflationary pressures on the economy.

The 3.1% annual increase in wages won in contracts settled in the first quarter of 1989 contrasted with a 2.5% average for the 12 months ended March 31, indicating that wage inflation has accelerated in the last three months.

The first-quarter settlements covered 199,000 workers, about 11% of the roughly 1.8 million workers whose contracts were settled through collective bargaining in the last year.

Although the report showed signs of recent wage acceleration, the rate of average wage gains during the life of the contracts was down for both those contracts settled in the last three months and those settled in the last year.