The stronger growth of the Philippine economy in the second quarter propelled a rebound in the job market among top enterprises in Metro Manila.
The Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) said in a report that labor turnover rate—the difference between jobs gained and jobs lost—went back to positive after posting -0.02 percent in the first quarter.
BLES data showed that for every 1,000 enterprise workers in the National Capital Region, 25 persons were added during the three months to June.
For every such group, 88 new hires joined but 63 quit or were fired. The hiring rate was recorded at 8.77 percent while separation rate was 6.28 percent.
“Growth was largely driven by the industry sector alongside the upbeat performance of the services sector which, together, compensated for the slack in agriculture, fishery and forestry,” the BLES said.
In the second quarter, the economy expanded by 7.5 percent from 6.3 percent in the same period of 2012. It was the fourth consecutive quarter that gross domestic product growth exceeded 7 percent under the Aquino administration, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board.
Among 18 industries covered, the labor turnover rate in the second quarter was best in businesses engaged in mining and quarrying (4.71 percent), manufacturing (4.53 percent) and construction (2.6 percent).
Employment in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply dipped by 0.25 percent while there was slight growth in wholesale and retail trade (0.78 percent); water supply (0.28 percent) financial and insurance activities (0.06 percent); and agriculture, forestry and fishing (0.01 percent).
Other sectors that the study covered included transportation and storage; accommodation and food service; information and communication; real estate activities; professional, scientific and technical activities; administrative and support services; education; human health and social work activities; arts, entertainment and recreation; and “other service activities.”
In the second quarter, the BLES observed that large enterprises in most subsectors—11 out of 18—took in new employees more because of the need to replace those who were let go than due to business expansion.
Based on the survey, more people went out of work because they quit than those who were fired.
Quitting was most prevalent in administrative and support services, accommodation and food services, and real estate.
Layoffs were most pronounced in the subsectors of arts, entertainment and recreation; mining and quarrying, and education.
The data is part of the BLES’s survey of 763 large corporations in NCR, which were drawn from the 2011 edition of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s list of “Top 25,000 Corporations.”