REVENUE across all industries grew 9.5% in the first quarter, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a report yesterday.
The total gross revenue index, a measure of sales generated by companies, increased by 9.5% in the first three months of the year, higher than the 6.9% recorded a year earlier, according to PSA’s Quarterly Economic Indices report. Growth was the highest since the 10.1% recorded in the third quarter of 2014.
“The higher revenue growth rate for the first quarter of 2017 compared to the first quarter of 2016 can be attributed to more vibrant production as well as faster consumer price inflation,” said Angelo B. Taningco, economist at Security Bank.
Leading the sub-indices was manufacturing, which rose 13% during the period, way above the 2% that it posted a year earlier.
“In the case of manufacturing, its robust revenue growth was on the back of sharper revenue growth in the petroleum sector amid rising fuel prices,” added Mr. Taningco.
Next in line were real estate (12.8%) and trade (8.6%) albeit with growth rates slightly lower than last year’s 13.2% and 8.8% respectively.
The private services sub-index rose 6.7% from 0.5% a year earlier. Meanwhile, the growth in the finance sub-index slowed to 2.8% from 6.1%. Transportation and communications was also slower with an 8.1% rise compared to 9.4%, previously.
Employment rose during the period, with the total employment index expanding to 1.4% after being little changed a year earlier. Sub-sectors posting the greatest growth were real estate (9.8%), transportation and communications (5.5%), finance (2.8%), private services (1.5%), electricity and water (1.3%), manufacturing (1%) and trade (0.8%).
On the other hand, the mining and quarrying segments continued to pose a drag on overall employment with its sub-index declining 5.6%, following the 6.3% contraction a year earlier.
Mr. Taningco said that the strong increase in employment for the real estate sector during the first quarter of 2017 would have likely been a result of sharp hike in compensation for workers in the sector.
“The sharp hike in workers’ compensation in the real estate sector may have been a result of stronger labor demand from real estate firms,” added Mr. Taningco.
Compensation rose 6.2% from the 4.5% posted in the same period last year. Backing this growth were real estate (15.8%), manufacturing (13.7%), private services (5.5%), trade (3.9%), transportation and communication (3%), and finance (1.6%). Those in mining and quarrying; and electricity and water saw contractions of 0.8% and 6%, respectively.
Going forward, Mr. Taningco expects gross revenue growth for the second quarter to remain positive amid buoyant production and higher inflation. — Lourdes O. Pilar
