MANILA, Philippines — The country recorded a seven-year high in local employment in October 2024, according to S&P Global financial information and analytics on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Citing its Philippines Manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) data compiled from a survey conducted among manufacturers, S&P Global said this employment increase is primarily attributed to the sustained expansion of the manufacturing sector.

The manufacturing sector has shown continuous improvement, driven by a strong increase in the volume of new product orders, the report highlighted.

S&P Global stated, “Improved demand trends allowed firms to expand their workforce numbers strongly. Filipino goods producers ramped up hiring, with the recent wave of job creation marking the most significant increase since mid-2017.”

It further noted, “Additionally, growth in employment allowed firms to work through the slight build-up of backlogs seen in the previous month and also keep up with current production requirements.”

Maryam Baluch, economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, emphasized, “Employment became the real stand-out this month [October], with the rate of job creation the strongest in over seven years.”

The latest S&P Global Philippines Manufacturing PMI, which measures factory output, showed that manufacturing experienced a slight decline from September’s two-year high of 53.7 to 52.9. S&P Global attributed this decrease to rising raw material prices, which often discouraged firms from purchasing inputs.

Despite this, October’s index reached the second-highest level since January last year, marking the fourteenth consecutive month it has stayed above the 50-point threshold, indicating ongoing growth.

Baluch noted that the Philippine manufacturing sector demonstrated stable growth, with strong new orders enabling producers to increase output. She added, “The expansion in new orders was again robust, allowing goods producers to raise their output again.”

“Firms remain optimistic with more than half of survey respondents anticipating expansion in the year ahead,” Baluch said.

📷 Contributed photo