The average wage rate for all major sectors fell by 1.5% in nominal terms in March over a year earlier. This was larger than the decrease of 0.8% last December.

About half the companies surveyed reported some decrease in average wage rates in March over a year earlier, partly attributable to reductions in guaranteed bonuses and allowances.

On the other hand, 36% of the companies surveyed recorded some increase in average wage rates over the same period.

This was partly due to the retrenchment of lower-paid clerical staff and operatives, leading to a rise in the proportion of relatively higher-paid workers over a year earlier.

These figures had not yet reflected the adverse impact of the SARS outbreak on Hong Kong.

For the restaurants and hotels sector, the nominal wage index dropped by 3.2% in March over a year earlier, compared to a decrease of 3% last December.

As for the nominal payroll index, there was a year-on-year decrease of 6.6% in the first quarter, considerably larger than the 3.1% fall in the fourth quarter of 2002.

This was partly due to a decline in working hours for some employees who had been temporarily suspended from work or asked to take no-pay leave in the latter part of March.

After discounting the decrease in consumer prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index (A), the overall average wage rate for all the major sectors surveyed taken together increased by 0.3% in real terms in March over a year earlier.