INDUSTRIES posted 8.6% revenue growth in the third quarter of 2017, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday.
Growth in the PSA’s total gross revenue index, a measure of sales generated by companies across all industries, accelerated from 6.8% a year earlier, according to the PSA’s Quarterly Economic Indices report.
It was the largest gain since the 9.5% posted in the first quarter of 2017.
The PSA said growth was driven by the finance (12.6% from 11.7% a year earlier), private services (9.4% from 8.6%), and trade (8.9% from 6.8%) sectors.
Manufacturing also posted gains, with 8.5% growth in the third quarter from 6.1% a year earlier, while growth slowed for real estate (to 8.8% from 21%) and transportation and communication (to 4.1% from 7.2%).
Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), said revenue gains support the country’s growth story.
“Our research describes the continuing uptrend of the country’s business cycle. Thus, one would expect the growth of the largest sectors/sub-sectors of the economy in general,” he said.
Guian Angelo S. Dumalagan, market economist at the Land Bank of the Philippines, concurred, saying that the results “are generally consistent with the acceleration in economic activity in the third quarter of 2017, which brought GDP (gross domestic product) growth to 6.9%.”
“Higher investment and government spending during the quarter likely contributed to better corporate earnings, employment and compensation,” he added.
The total employment index, meanwhile, grew 1.5% in the third quarter, against 1.1% posted a year earlier. Subsectors posting growth were real estate (3.1%), trade (2.5%), private services (2.1%), manufacturing (1.1%), electricity and water (1%), and mining and quarrying (0.1%).
Finance and transportation and communication also posted increases, albeit at a slower pace of 0.8% and 3%, respectively, from 1.4% and 6.5% a year earlier.
UnionBank’s Mr. Asuncion noted that the total employment index’s increase, although incremental, is still positive.
“It tells one that labor employed has increased year on year, and the natural consequence of economic expansion is labor employment increase,” he said.
Compensation rose by 7.4% in the third quarter from 5.9% a year earlier. Real estate (with gains of 14.9%) and manufacturing (11.3%) were the top gainers during the period while electricity and water was the sole sector which posted a contraction (-1.9%).
On a per-employee basis, compensation grew 5.8% with real estate and manufacturing also leading growth among sectors.
Mr. Asuncion added: “Particularly, manufacturing has been on an uptrend in 2017. Others are related to the services sector which form part of about 60% of GDP expansion in the 3rd quarter,” he said. — Mark T. Amoguis
