There were 291,498 social security assistance cases last month, up 0.3% on March, the Social Welfare Department says.

Cases involving people with low earnings rose 1.4% from 14,215 to 14,421. However, the number of jobless receiving comprehensive social security assistance continued to fall, with 48,150 cases last month, down 0.6% on March.

There was also a drop in the share of such cases to the overall total, to 16.5% from 16.7% in March.