Public sector pay has risen faster than private sector pay during the last two years, a survey has shown.

Economic uncertainty has held back pay rises in the private sector, the survey by Income Data Services showed.

Meanwhile, public sector pay has risen faster due to government attempts to address low pay and due to restructuring.

The new trend is a reversal of the historical trend.

"During the 1990s, public sector workers were continuously getting lower pay rises than private sector workers," the survey's assistant editor, Sarah Miller, told BBC News Online.

Persistent trend

During summer, the trend has been more pronounced than in the past.

Since April, more than half of private sector pay deals have resulted in pay rises below 3%.

Two-thirds of public sector pay increases have been above 3% .

"There is still more to come in the government's programme to modernise pay in the public sector," said Ms Miller.

"We are likely to see some fairly high headline percentage rises in parts of the public sector, and [efforts to address] the issue of equal pay is likely to boost the pay bill further."

Pay improvements

Some public sector workers have received above average pay rises.

Physiotherapists received 8%, and low-paid ancillary workers pocketed a rise of at least 6.5% this year.

In local government, about 200,000 low-paid workers received increases of about 6.2%.

Modern matrons and nurse consultants - two new positions created by the government - received 6.6% increases.

Private sector lags behind

Retail workers and engineers have fared worse this year, the survey showed, though for some things are looking up.

There have been fewer pay freezes in recent months than earlier in the year.

The survey said pay freezes which have affected hotel and air transport workers, were beginning to ease, the survey said.

Welcome rises

Some workers in the private sector who are also involved in government projects have done very well this year.

In particular, construction and transport workers.

About 200,000 construction workers received an 8.9% pay rise this year.

Heating and ventilation industry workers pocketed a pay rise of 16%, and plumbers 13%.