U.S. consumers are spending more money on domestic goods and services at the cost of imports, and this trend will likely boost the dollar in the medium term, according to a B. of A. Merrill Lynch Global Research report. Real import growth has declined to less than 1% in the first half of 2013 from 11% in the first half of 2010, wrote David Woo, head of global rates and currencies research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. At the same time, employment growth jumped to 1.6% from -1.7%. The divergence in directions of the two growth figures is “unusual,” since an upturn in the business cycle would typically increase ... (full story)