More Filipinos Became Poor Last Year Despite Economic Growth

The rapid rise in food prices and the lingering effects of Typhoon Yolanda eroded gains from last year's economic growth to push more Filipinos into poverty, reports Interaksyonc.om. The Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS) showed poverty incidence among Filipino individuals rose by 1.2 percentage points to 25.8 percent in the first semester of 2014 from the 24.6 percent in the first half of the previous year. Among Filipino families, poverty incidence increased by 1.1 percentage points to 20 percent from 18.8 percent over the same period.