Gross revenues of major industries up 8.6% in Q3 2017

The gross revenues of major industries grew at a faster pace of 8.6 percent in the third quarter of last year, boosted by a double-digit jump in the finance sector.

A Philippine Statistics Authority report showed that the growth in the total gross revenue index during the period July to September 2017 was higher than the 6.8-percent expansion posted in the same three-month period of 2016.

Per industry, finance sector revenues rose 12.6 percent; private services, up 9.4 percent; and trade, up 8.9 percent, PSA data showed.

Despite the faster growth in revenues, employment across the top industries inched up by only 1.5 percent during the period, although higher than the 1.1-percent increase a year ago.

Jobs in real estate grew 3.1 percent; transportation and communication, up 3 percent; trade, up 2.5 percent; private services, up 2.1 percent; manufacturing, up 1.1 percent; electricity and water, up 1 percent; finance, up 0.8 percent; and mining and quarrying, up 0.1 percent.

Compensation across the major sectors nonetheless increased by 7.4 percent, faster than a year ago’s 5.9-percent rise.

Pay received by employees in the real estate sector climbed 14.9 percent; manufacturing, up 11.3 percent; transportation and communication; up 8.8 percent; mining and quarrying, up 6.5 percent; private services, up 5.8 percent; and trade, up 4.3 percent.

However, salaries of workers in the electricity and water industry declined by 2.8 percent during the period. /cbb