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A much better year lies in store for most of the world's major developed economies, although weak inflation will persist, complicating central banks' ability to get interest rates back to normal, Reuters polls forecast on Thursday. As in the last few years, the United States looks set to the lead the way, with growth also quickening in Britain and Germany . However, Japan looks set to disappoint and the euro zone will probably lag again compared with its Western peers. Emerging markets again look a mixed bag. Perhaps the main difference this year is that forecasts from the 300 or so economists polled across the world over the last week at least suggest little prospect of a return to recession in the euro zone , the world's largest trading bloc. Overall, the poll showed the world economy will grow 3.6 percent this year compared with 2.9 percent in 2013. That would snap a three-year stretch of slowing global growth since the world economy first rebounded from the seve

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell for the second consecutive week last week, suggesting a sharp step-down in job growth in December was likely to be temporary. The better labor market tone was also captured by a survey on Thursday showing an acceleration in manufacturing activity in the Mid-Atlantic region, accompanied by a rise in factory jobs. "We view the tepid December payroll gain as an aberration and expect job creation to look stronger in January," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 326,000, the Labor Department said. That compared to economists' expectations for a fall to 328,000. Job growth slowed sharply in December, with employers adding only 74,000 new positions. Nonfarm payrolls increased 241,000 in November and the retreat last month was blamed on cold weather. In a separate report, the Philadelphia

Big U.S. national banks would have to report their risk appetites and boost oversight by their boards under new rules proposed by a U.S. bank regulator on Thursday to help avoid a repeat of the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued the guidelines as part of its "heightened expectations" program for the biggest U.S. banks. Bank regulators, particularly the OCC, came under intense scrutiny for not cracking down on dangerous activity that fueled the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The OCC also faced criticism after the "London whale" incident, in which traders at JPMorgan Chase placed outsized bets that wound up costing the bank billions of dollars. Regulators and lawmakers said that incident occurred in part because JPMorgan's management failed to scrutinize risk-taking in every part of the bank. The bank's directors also were caught unaware of the activity. JPMorgan wound up paying more than $1 billion to re

The U.S. Federal Reserve's balance sheet reached $4 trillion in the latest week as its latest stimulus program aimed to help the economy added more Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities to its holdings, central bank data released on Thursday showed. _0"> On January 15, the Fed's liabilities, which are a broad gauge of its lending to the financial system, rose to $4.029 trillion from $3.986 trillion a week earlier. The Fed's third round of quantitative easing began in late 2011 when its balance sheet was less than $3 trillion. On December 18, the central bank decided to shrink its monthly purchases of Treasuries and MBS by $10 billion to $75 billion in January. The Fed's holdings of Treasuries rose to $2.221 trillion as of Wednesday, up from $2.213 trillion the previous week. The Fed's ownership of mortgage bonds guaranteed by Fannie Mae ( id="symbol_FNMA.OB_0"> FNMA.OB ), Freddie Mac ( id="symbol_FMCC.OB_1"> FMCC.OB ) and

Washington's battles over government funding ended with a whimper on Thursday as the U.S. Senate approved a $1.1 trillion spending bill that quells for nearly nine months the threat of another federal agency shutdown. _0"> The measure, which funds thousands of government programs from the military to national parks through the September 30 fiscal year-end, passed by a strong, 72-26 majority. President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law. The vote came exactly three months after the end of a 16-day government shutdown in October that was waged over disputed funding of "Obamacare," the president's signature health care law. "We're a little late, but we have gotten the job done," said Senate Appropriations Committee Barbara Mikulski said on the Senate floor. (Reporting by David Lawder, editing by G Crosse and David Gregorio)

Washington's battles over government funding ended with a whimper on Thursday as the U.S. Senate approved a $1.1 trillion spending bill that quells for nearly nine months the threat of another federal agency shutdown. The measure, which funds thousands of government programs from the military to national parks through the September 30 fiscal year-end, passed on a strong, 72-26 bipartisan vote. President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law by Saturday. The vote came exactly three months after the end of a 16-day government shutdown in October that was waged over disputed funding of "Obamacare," the president's signature health care law. "We're a little late, but we have gotten the job done," Senate Appropriations Committee Barbara Mikulski said on the Senate floor. The fiscal focus in Congress now turns to debate over another boost in the $17 trillion federal debt limit. An increase could be needed in as little as six weeks. Republicans ha

Japanese consumer confidence worsened in December, a Cabinet Office survey showed on Friday, in a possible sign of wariness towards a sales tax hike in April. _0"> The survey's sentiment index for general households, which includes views on incomes and jobs, was 41.3 in December, down from 42.5 in November. A reading below 50 suggests consumer pessimism. The Cabinet Office cut its assessment of consumer confidence, saying it is stalling. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Shinichi Saoshiro)