August saw the comprehensive social security assistance caseload fall 0.1% on July, to 283,632 cases involving 482,647 recipients, the Social Welfare Department says.

Jobless cases fell 0.1% to 31,113, while single-parent and low-earning cases dropped 0.4% and 0.8% to 36,337 and 16,412.

Old-age cases rose 0.03% to 151,356, while permanent-disability cases increased 0.1% to 17,747.