The Philippine economy registered a forecast-beating growth in the first quarter after showing resilience in the face of Omicron surge.
 
The economy grew by 8.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported Thursday.
 
That was a reversal from the 3.8 percent contraction in the same period last year.
 
National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said the economy has surpassed the pre-pandemic gross domestic product level in a press conference. 
 
Growth in the first quarter exceeded the median analyst forecast of 6.7 percent, making the Philippines the fastest growing economy in the East Asia Region for the period.  
 
On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, the economy grew by 1.9 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. 
 
Other economic indicators support this strong recovery. For example, Google mobility data improved further when we lowered the alert levels.
 
Visits to the transit stations are now 30 percent higher than the pre-pandemic level, [that is the black line that you see compared to the red, which is 2020, and blue, which is 2021 for the same month,] while visits to workplaces have also exceeded the pre-pandemic level by around 20 percent. 
 
The unemployment rate in March 2022 fell to 5.8 percent, the lowest since the start of the pandemic. In addition, employment creation is now at 4.4 million above the pre-pandemic level.