MANILA, Philippines -- Remittances reached an all-time high in June, thanks to global economic recovery that fueled an increase in employment opportunities and to sustained demand specifically for Filipino workers.

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines), money sent by Filipinos abroad reached $1.62 billion in June, the highest monthly remittances ever recorded. This was 8.3-percent higher than the $1.5 billion in the same month last year.

Remittances in June brought the total for the first semester to $9.06 billion, up 6.9 percent from $8.48 billion a year ago.

?The continued deployment of professional and skilled Filipino overseas workers, given favorable global employment opportunities, underpinned the resilience of remittances,? BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said.

The consensus among economists was that 2010 would mark a gradual recovery of countries that fell into recession in 2009, including the United States and industrialized nations in Europe where many Filipinos have been working.

Tetangco said remittances to the Philippines have been growing robustly also because Filipinos were favored by foreign employers.

Citing documents from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the central bank said in a statement that 212,700 Filipinos received contracts to work offshore in the first six months of the year, rising nearly 14 percent from 187,338 in the same period a year ago.

The BSP said the deployment of Filipinos was seen to continue rising as more foreign employers have already hinted about their plans to hire more workers from the Philippines.

It cited the Japanese Ship Owners? Association, which recently disclosed plans to hire 2,000 Filipino sea-based workers, to work as officers and crew of high-end Japanese vessels over the next two years.

The BSP has projected that remittances for the full year would rise 6 to 8 percent this year from last year?s $17.3 billion.

Aided by remittances, which fuels household consumption, the economy is expected to grow between 5 and 6 percent this year, faster than 2009?s 1.1 percent.