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The market needs to rethink the Fed: Merrill economist
The market has likely fallen behind the curve when it comes to anticipating the Federal Reserve's pace of interest rate hikes this year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch senior economist Michael Hanson said Monday. That is particularly the case if the U.S. unemployment rate continues to fall, he said. On Friday, government data showed the unemployment rate ticked down from 5 percent to 4.9 percent. At the same time, wage growth and hours worked picked up, raising the specter of a tighter labor market in which employers need to pay more to attract workers. For that reason, the Fed may raise rates more than the market ... (full story)