However, businesses were more upbeat for the last quarter of the year, rising to 56.1%, as firms anticipate higher consumer demand during the holiday and harvest seasons, increases in orders and projects, as well as favorable macroeconomic conditions, and higher government spending for the quarter.
Trading firms were less positive as respondents reported that they were affected by the seasonal slack in consumer demand during the quarter.between the United States and China, as well as red tape and corruption in the government. For mining and manufacturing companies, they were concerned with the rainy season causing the lack of demand, as well as the lack of government support for mining activities.The Q3 2019 BES was conducted from July to September 2019. There were 1,487 firms surveyed nationwide.
Respondents were drawn from the combined list of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Top 7,000 Corporations in 2010 andTop 1,000 Corporations in 2017, consisting of 583 companies in Metro Manila and 904 firms in areas outside the capital region.