Sentence Correction

Since February, the Federal Reserve has raised its short-term interest rate target five times, and because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again in November.
A. because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will
B. with the economy’s strength continuing, analysts predicted for weeks that the target
C. because the economy continues strong, analysts predicted for weeks that the target would
D. due to the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target
E. due to the fact of the economy’s continued strength, analysts predicted for weeks that the target will

A is correct answer

A. because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will - correct
B. with the economy’s strength continuing, analysts predicted for weeks that the target - the target be raised is incorrect should be will be raised because prediction
C. because the economy continues strong, analysts predicted for weeks that the target would - would is not correct here
D. due to the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target- due to is incorrect
E. due to the fact of the economy’s continued strength, analysts predicted for weeks that the target will- due to is incorrect, fact is redundant

Edited : Deleted

A should be the answer.
Use of "Since" in the non underlined portion justifies the present perfect tense, Scientists "have been predicting".. so we require simple future here.. "Will"

i think "Predicted for weeks " in C is not correct

gmat740,
of the two bolded parts, "the economy continues strong" is very unidiomatic. would have been better had it been "economy continues to be strong"

so A wins over C

scoobydooby wrote:gmat740,
of the two bolded parts, "the economy continues strong" is very unidiomatic. would have been better had it been "economy continues to be strong"

so A wins over C

Extremely sorry.
Thanks for pointing it out

IMO-A

why not D guys?

i think i read somewhere to replace due to by 'caused by' and see if the answer choice still holds. i thought D sounded ok when i did that.

EDIT - my bad, didn't see that there was no will / would at the end of D. disregard my question.

OA is A