The average Hong Kong employee took home a little more salary in the first quarter, according to Census and Statistics Department figures released Tuesday.

Its index of payroll per person engaged for all the major sectors rose 4.4 percent in nominal terms in the first quarter of 2005 over a year earlier.

After netting out the effect of the increase in consumer prices, average payroll per employee rose 4 percent in real terms.

The department said the year-on-year increase in the labor earnings was due to the increases in the regular payroll and the amount of guaranteed year-end-bonus issued as compared with those in the first quarter of 2004.

The average wage rate for all major sectors rose by 0.7 percent in nominal terms in March over a year earlier.

About 47 percent of the companies recorded some increase in average wage rates in March. This was due to the increase in the wage level for some employees, as well as the retrenchment of lower-paid clerical and support staff, leading to a rise in the proportion of relatively higher-paid workers.

About 40 percent of the companies recorded some decrease in average wage rates over the period. The remaining 13 percent reported almost no change in average wage rates.

After discounting the increase in consumer prices, the overall average wage rate for all major sectors dropped 0.5 percent in real terms in March.

The nominal wage indices increased in almost all the major sectors in March, ranging from 0.7 percent to 2.1 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2005)