XN000022-1996-04-17 — Page 11

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Employment exhibition draws 2,500 visitors

More than 2,500 people visited the "Employment Information Post" Exhibition at the Hong Kong City Hall today (Wednesday).

Twenty-two employers from different trades participated in the exhibition providing a total of 852 vacancies.

The event is jointly organised by the Labour Department, the Employees Retraining Board, the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong, the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.

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Payroll statistics for fourth quarter 1995

According to statistics released today (Wednesday) by the Census and Statistics. Department, average labour earnings in all major sectors surveyed, as measured by payroll per person engaged, recorded an increase of 11.9% in nominal terms in the fourth quarter of 1995 over a year earlier. After discounting changes in consumer prices, the increase was 3.8% in real terms.

Analysed by industry sector, average payroll per person engaged in the manufacturing sector increased by 8.6% in nominal terms or 0.8% in real terms in the fourth quarter of 1995 over a year earlier. The slow-down in local manufacturing activity in the latter part of last year could have affected workers' pay in that sector.

For the wholesale, retail and import/export trades, restaurants and hotels sector, average payroll per person engaged increased by 13.7% in nominal terms or 5.5% in real terms. This significant increase was mainly underpinned by the rise in labour earnings in the import/export trades.

Average payroll per person engaged in the transport, storage and communications sector showed an increase of 10.2% in nominal terms or 2.3% in real terms. Increase in labour earnings was mainly concentrated in the transport industry. Labour earnings in the storage and communications industries showed a less rapid increase.