### Instruction: Extract causal economic narratives from the input text below! A causal economic narrative consists of two events that are unambiguously causally linked. State all causal narratives from the input text strictly in the following form: 'event A - "causes" - event B'.
### Input: The American economy is booming based on today's reading of the employment situation, which should go a long way to reassuring nervous Nellies in financial markets," NAME_1, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank, said in a note to investors. Wage growth hit 3.2 percent a year in December, the fastest pace in nearly a decade and a sign of increasing competition for workers. While inflation eats up some of those gains, wages are growing about a percent above the cost of living for the typical American, mainly because gas prices have stayed low. Many cheered the strong hiring report, but some analysts were quick to say that it is a lagging indicator that is not necessarily a great predictor of where the economy is headed. "While today's number is great to see, I'm not going to use it to influence my view of economic growth in 2019, which will be on a slowing trajectory," said NAME_2, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group. There should be exactly 6 paragraphs separated by the markdown divider: ***.
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