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 – Predicted is the wrong tense, the action is still going on
C. because the economy continues strong, analysts predicted for weeks that the target would - Same as B
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- Redundant “due to the fact”

“Due to” mean “caused by” and it should only be used if it can be substituted with “caused by”. So it is necessary to use “because” here, so I will go with A

OA is D. I am surprised

Me too, due to the fact sounds kind of redundant...

I agree with Isis, I think the answer has to be A.

Another reason is that the end of the sentence, if answer D is used, doesn't make sense:

"...analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target be raised again in November."

This is assuming the original question actually looks like this:

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.

Since the part of the sentence we're supposed to correct is not underlined, it takes extra time to clarify exactly which words are part of the original sentence and which words are part of the phrase to be corrected.

You should really add the underlined part to your questions.

I would have gone with A too. The 1000SC while useful for additional practice is kinda frustrating because there is no way to verify the accuracy of the material. it scares me too because I dont want to be practicing off of incorrect information and further ruining my already poor grammar skills. Im sticking with the OG and Kaplan 800 for now unless I get desperate towards the end.

I Know!
I have found quite a few questions in this document whose answers are wrong. Here is another example:

#678- Sunspots, vortices of gas associated with strong electromagnetic activity, are visible as dark spots on the surface of the Sun but have never been sighted on the Sun’s poles or equator.
(A) are visible as dark spots on the surface of the Sun but have never been sighted on
(B) are visible as dark spots that never have been sighted on the surface of the Sun
(C) appear on the surface of the Sun as dark spots although never sighted at
(D) appear as dark spots on the surface of the Sun, although never having been sighted at
(E) appear as dark spots on the Sun’s surface, which have never been sighted on

Right answer is A even though 1000Sc says is C. This is a OG 11th edition question. (pg. 666 , question #9)