1.   For either to surge, companies would have to raise prices --either to boost profits, pay higher production costs or cover increased payrolls.

2.   Hundreds of districts have had to take costly loans to cover their payrolls because that payment had been held hostage in the budget negotiations.

3.   They said Harmon covered the payroll a month ago out of his own finances.

4.   However, Leung Shun, chairman of the Poultry Trade Workers Union, said the proposed grants were too small to cover payrolls.

5.   The state, deprived of tax revenue, cannot meet the bills for what it orders from industry, nor cover its payroll.