MANILA, Philippines -- Money sent home by overseas Filipino workers through the banking system rose 3.8 percent year-on-year to $1.2 billion in November, the slowest pace in five months, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas--the Philippine central bank--reported Tuesday.

The November level brought the total remittances for the 11-month period to $13.1 billion, or 14.1-percent higher compared to the level a year ago.

The growth for the month of November, however, was slower than the double-digit growth in overseas remittances seen in the previous three months. In October, the annual growth was 17.1 percent.

"The sustained strong remittance flows in November reflected the continued rise in the number of deployed overseas workers," BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said.

Preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed that total deployment in November rose by 7.7 percent from a year ago to 81,530, marking the fifth straight month of increasing deployment.

The number of deployed land- and sea-based workers in November grew by 10.1 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.

"Classified by skill, the bulk of deployed land-based Filipino workers were mainly higher-paid professional and skilled workers such as medical and healthcare workers staff, engineers, office and restaurants/food service staff and production-related personnel," Tetangco said.

Most of the remittances came from the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong.

The sustained growth in remittances, Tetangco said, was also due to the increase in remittance centers abroad as banks and other financial institutions provided overseas Filipinos with fast and efficient modes of transfer facilities and allowed beneficiaries to avail themselves of the range of financial services offered by banks.

Remittances coursed through banks were estimated to have reached $14.3 billion in 2007. This year, a growth of 10 percent to $15.7 billion is expected by the BSP.

The BSP's monthly report on remittances does not include money sent through non-bank or informal remittance channels, defined as unlicensed or unregulated operations such as friends, acquaintances or other travelers.

Remittances coursed through banks, however, now account for about 95 percent of total overseas inflows.