United Nations says poverty reduction stalled in Latin America

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Poverty reduction has stalled across Latin America, barely budging since 2012, as economic growth has slowed, the United Nations' economic body for the region said on Monday. An annual report by the UN's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) shows that 28 percent of the region's population, or 167 million people, were mired in poverty in 2014. "It seems the recovery from the international financial crisis was not taken advantage of sufficiently to strengthen social protection policies that reduce vulnerability from economic cycles," said Alicia Barcena, the head of Santiago-based ECLAC. (Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Bernadette Baum)