NSCB: Industry revenues, employment and wages up in Q2

The economy’s 5.9-percent growth in the second quarter was reflected in increments in the gross revenue of industries, the employment rate and wages, according to the latest figures from the National Statistical Coordination Board. The total gross revenue index of industries jumped 10.1 percent in the second quarter from the previous year’s growth of 6.7 percent. Real estate again posted the fastest growth of 22.5 percent, followed by trade (up 12.9 percent) and transport and communication (up 10.8 percent). On the other hand, finance, private services and manufacturing growth slowed down year on year to 9.5 percent (from 10.9 percent), 6.6 percent (from 8.5 percent) and 3.3 percent (from 7.2 percent) respectively. The total employment index rebounded from a decline of 1.8 percent in 2011 to a growth of 3.3 percent in 2012. Mining and quarrying jobs grew by 8.4 percent, a turnaround from a decline of 18.7 percent a year ago. All other sectors recorded advances in their employment indices except for trade and electricity (with a 1.2-percent drop in employment) and gas and water (-0.1 percent). Salaries and wages paid out by industries in cash and in kind, which are measured by the total compensation index, rose by 9.4 percent from 3.2 percent last year. Workers in mining and quarrying saw wage hikes of 16.0 percent from a decline of 1.6 percent in 2011. Only the salaries of finance and real estate workers declined, by 17.1 and 0.1 percent respectively. The rest of the sectors showed index uptrends. The total compensation per employee index expanded from 5.1 percent last year to 5.9 percent in Q2 2012. The growth was brought by the robust performance of privateservices, which grew by 11.4 percent, and the favorable performances of the other sectors. Finance, on the other hand, continued to post double-digit decline with 18.5 percent, together with real estate, which also declined by 6.2 percent. The NSCB report was based on the October 2012 issue of the Quarterly Economic Indices of the Philippines. — BM, GMA News