That number is expected to rise to 35 percent or 40 percent by next year, he said.

If left unchecked, experts estimated the surcharge would rise to 24.8 percent by next year.

That figure is expected to rise to 36,000 by next year, according to Congressional estimates.

Employee contributions for family plans, in fact, rose to an average of $41 a month by early last year, from $27 in 1980.

Recorded crime rose by 6% last year (compared with 16% in 1991).

There used to be an in-built assumption that the rate of increase in resources available to an authority would rise year by year.

The trade was $2.3 billion in 1979 and had risen to $8.3 billion by last year.

Currency traders predict it could rise to $1.30 by next year.

While the boom was on in the 1980's, their "savings" were rising year by year, as housing prices went up.

"We think operating earnings will rise by 15 percent or better next year," he said.