There were 296,831 social security cases last month, up by 263 or 0.1% on July, the Social Welfare Department says.

The number of jobless receiving comprehensive social security assistance remained unchanged at 39,175. Cases involving single-parent families dropped 0.1% to 39,228, while those involving the low-income group grew 0.2% to 18,470.

Cases involving the aged rose 0.1% to 152,176 and accounted for 51.3% of the total, while the jobless and single-parent families each accounted for 13.2% of cases.

Total government spending on social-security payments for 2004-05 was $17.6 billion.