Some economic trends

Today’s column will be devoted to some statistics for the third quarter (July to September 2005 and 2006) that will give indications on the economic trends in Eastern Visayas.

The encouraging ones are those on palay production which increased by 15.1 percent, and fish production which increased by 11.7 percent.

Statistics that should raise concerns about the health of our economy are those on copra production which declined by 1.4 percent and abaca fiber production which declined by 36.8 percent.

The signals are, therefore, mixed. It is clear that the region is gaining ground in the agriculture sector, but this is confined to palay and fish production. It is hampered by the declines in copra and abaca production.

This means that both crops require more government attention. And since the declines are substantial, the solutions to such declines should also be substantial.

The solutions could take some time to take effect and obtain results.

Some activities have been undertaken to address this problem but the statistics show that more activities are needed.

The inflation rate was a low 6.3 percent but unemployment grew from 4.4 to 5.3 of the labor force.