EXCERPT

CONSTRUCTION activity grew in the fourth quarter of last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported last Friday, rebounding from year-earlier contraction when much of the country remained under strict quarantine restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The number of constructions based on approved building permits totaled 38,263 during the period, up 5.7 percent from 36,190 (down 7.8 percent) in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Residential construction accounted for the bulk, or 73.2 percent, at 27,998. Year-on-year growth was 8.1 percent, a reversal from the 5.7-percent drop in the same period last year. The majority of residential constructions (82.7 percent) were single-type houses.

Non-residential constructions, meanwhile, accounted for 15.2 percent or 5,816, up 11 percent. A year earlier, it contracted by a steep 20.9 percent. The bulk, or 65.9 percent, comprised commercial buildings.

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