Residents in Tianjin, a port city in north China, saw double digit growth in their incomes in the first eight months this year, according to the municipal bureau of statistics.

The per capita disposable income of urban residents reached 8,066 yuan (US$994.6) in the first eight months of this year, a rise of 12.7 percent from a year earlier.

The per capita cash income of rural residents increased by 11.9percent year-on-year to reach 5,934 yuan (US$732.6) in the same period.

Employment increased by 1.6 percent. By the end of August, registered urban employees reached 1.913 million, 31,000 more than that of the same period of last year.

Wages and bonuses for urban employees totaled 27.18 billion yuan (US$3.36 billion), and the per employee reward was 14,472 yuan, up 13.7 percent over the same period of last year.

(Xinhua News Agency October 3, 2005)