For the Second Quarter of 2006, total revenue of industries grew by 13.6 percent, sustaining its double-digit growth since the First Quarter of 2004.  This report is based on the October 2006 issue of the Quarterly Economic Indices (QEI) of the Philippines.  Higher sales on petroleum and pharmaceutical products as well as consumer goods shored up from newly opened malls boosted the total revenue for the quarter.  Among the industries,  Trade Services posted the highest increase by 20.4 percent.  Finance, real estate, transportation and communication and private services likewise posted sustained growths of 16.1 percent, 12.4 percent, 10.8 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively.

Total employment, on the other hand, declined by 0.3 percent, the lowest and the only negative growth for employment since the first quarter of 2004.  Decline in employment for the manufacturing sector which registered a 1.1 percent drop as well as the decelerated growths for transportation and communication, finance and real estate contributed to the decrease in the total employment of industries.

Total compensation of industries, which  represents the salaries and wages paid out by all industries in cash and in kind,   went up by 6.8 percent on the second quarter of 2006.  The growth recorded was the highest since the fourth quarter of 2004 at 7.7 percent.  The transportation and communication and electricity and water sectors which grew at 23.4 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively posted the highest increases for the quarter.  Other sectors that showed improvements were manufacturing and trade with growths of 6.4 and 7.2 percent, respectively.

With the increase in total compensation and slight decline in employment, the compensation per employee grew by  7.1 percent during the quarter – the highest recorded since the third quarter of 2004.  The industries posting the highest growths were transportation and communication and electricity and water with 22.9 percent and 8.5 percent growths, respectively.  Other sectors posting positive growths were manufacturing at 7.6 percent, trade at 6.7 percent, finance at 5.1 percent and real estate at 4.5 percent. 

ROMULO A. VIROLA
Secretary-General

Contact Persons:

Ms. Vivian R. Ilarina, Ms. Rhea-Ann F. Austria and Ms. Geraldine A. Mendoza Tel Nos.: (632) 896-5372 (632) 895-2481 (telefax)
E-mail: vr.ilarina@nscb.gov.ph, raf.austria@nscb.gov.ph, ga.mendoza@nscb.gov.ph