July saw 298,333 social security cases, up 0.4% on June. Cases involving the jobless rose, for the first time since October 2003, to 43,354, up 0.3%.

The Social Welfare Department said cases involving the low income group grew 1.1% to 17,631 while those involving the disabled rose 0.7% to 17,211. Cases involving single parent families also rose 0.3% to 40,132.

Cases involving the aged accounted for 50.6% of the total, or 151,057 cases. The jobless and single parent families accounted for 14.5% and 13.5% of cases.

Compared with the same period last year, cases involving the jobless fell 9%, while the low income category surged 15.7%.

For details about the social security scheme, click here.