Economic Growth in the Philippines is Not Inclusive

"For a country that achieved a 7.2-percent growth in gross domestic product last year, the second-fastest in Asia next to China, many like Cristobal do not feel its benefits," says the Philippine Daily Inquirer in its article "The informalization of Philippine Workers." Cristobal, a construction worker without a permanent job, personifies the extent of poverty in our country.  

In the same article, Dr. Rene Ofreneo of the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations calls it "unequal and exclusivist" growth. Meaning, there is growth in the economy but it's not inclusive because poverty still persists and many are still jobless. The GDP growth rate is expanding but employment growth is not, as shown in this graph using the data from the Philippine Statistics Authority:

            

Notable in the graph is the GDP vis-a-vis employment growth trend from 2011 to 2013. GDP growth rate over the last three years went up but the employment growth went to the opposite direction. Clearly, employment growth is not catching up with economic growth and this could be the reason why Cristobal is not feeling the benefits of the economic expansion that our government has been proudly declaring.