Transportation, communication post fastest growth in Q4 2013

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s total gross revenue index of industries accelerated by 8.3% in the fourth quarter of 2013, with the transportation and communication sector posting the fastest growth, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

The figures were reported by National Statistician Lisa Grace Bersales, based on the April 2014 issue of the Quarterly Economic Indices (QEI) of the Philippines compiled by the PSA, which she heads.

Bersales, in a statement posted on the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) website, said the transportation and communication sector expanded by 15.9% from 4.8% in the same period in 2012 – the fastest growth recorded since the fourth quarter of 2004.

This was followed by the finance sector which accelerated by 10.5%, faster than its  9.9% growth in 2012, and by trade and manufacturing, which grew by 8.2%  and 8%, from 7.7% and 4.9%, respectively in the last quarter of 2012.

Bersales said real estate and private services “continued to contribute positively to growth, however at a slower pace” with 9.8% from 22.0%,  and 3.3% from 11.8%.

She said the total employment index “inched up” with a growth of 2.9% from 2.2% in the last quarter of 2012.

“The accelerated growth was largely attributed to the turnaround growths of Transportation and Communication; and Trade with 5.6% and 4.4% from a decline of 2.4% and 1.5% in the previous year, respectively,” Bersales said.

The PSA chief also said that despite the slower growth in both the Gross Revenue Index and Employment Index, it was the real estate industry that posted the highest growth in Employment Index with 9% growth, from 9.7% in the previous period.

She said the other industries – finance (4.1%), mining and quarrying (4%), manufacturing (2.6%) and private services (2%) all contributed positively to growth in the fourth quarter of 2013. Electricity and water, however, declined by 0.1%.

The PSA  reported that total compensation index decelerated to 6.1% in the fourth quarter of 2013 from the previous year’s growth of 10.4%.

“The slowdown was contributed by the decelerated growth of electricity and water (1.7% from 8%), transportation and communication (2.9% from 12%), trade (3.1% from 5.6%), and private services (7.1% from 16.9%),” Bersales said.

With the acceleration in employment index and the deceleration in compensation index, the total compensation per employee index decelerated to 3.1% from 8% in the previous year.

The Philippines’ QEI aims to provide measures of growth in production, gross revenue, employment, and compensation in different sectors of the economy.

The PSA said these indicators were developed to guide users for a more meaningful economic analysis of current economic behavior and events. It is also used as deflators to express a current value in real terms, as bases for wage formulation, and for forecasting and projections. – Rappler.com