Philippine economic growth eased unexpectedly in the three months ended March, figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed Thursday.
Gross domestic product advanced 6.4 percent year-over-year in the first quarter, slower than the 6.6 percent spike in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, economists had expected the growth to improve slightly to 6.7 percent.
In the corresponding period last year, the rate of expansion was 6.9 percent.
Among the major economic sectors, services had the fastest growth of 6.8 percent, followed by industrial sector with 6.1 percent gain, while agriculture sector recovered by 4.9 percent.
Quarter-on-quarter, GDP rose a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent in the first quarter, slower than the 1.5 percent rise expected by economists.
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