MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE 2) - The Philippine economy grew by 6 percent for the third quarter of this year, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Thursday.

The third quarter growth is an improvement from the 5.8 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter and from the 5.5 percent in the third quarter of 2014.

National Economic and Development Authority Director General Arsenio Balisacan said that growth in the first nine months of the year is at 5.6 percent.

The country's GDP growth was the third fastest among Asian countries next to China's 6.9 percent and Vietnam's 6.8 percent.

Balisacan noted that the 6 percent in the third quarter of 2015 is an encouraging sign of a steadily growing economy.

The performance of the public sector improved following the increase of government final consumption expenditure from 3.9 percent to 17.4 percent.

For the first three quarters of the year, the average government final consumption expenditure grew to 7.2 percent, a leap from the previous year's contraction of 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, household consumption grew by 6.3 percent with more jobs, increasing income, low inflation and inflow of remittances.

Capital formation rose to 8.9 percent, signifying the strength of both public and private sector investments. Public construction doubled from 20.6 percent in the previous quarter to 41.2 percent.

Retail and wholesale trade accelerated with increased domestic consumption. On the supply side, the services sector drove growth, which grew to 7.3 percent.

Balisacan added that education, recreational, cultural, sporting activities, hotels and restaurants propelled other services to grow by 8 percent.

"We may already be seeing some of the gains from our hosting of the (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) this year," Balisacan said.

On the other hand, the industry sector grew slower despite the improvement in manufacturing. The agriculture sector also registered a modest growth due to the impact of El Niño.

Imports of goods and services rose to 13.5 percent, a leap from last year's 4.7 percent. This will set the stage for the improvement of the country's exports by next year.

Balisacan said that the growth trajectory will likely continue in the fourth quarter as domestic demand is expected to rise during the holiday season. He added that low inflation, low oil prices and the anticipated effects of election spending on the country's growth support this outlook.