Fears of wage inflation are unnerving Wall Street.
Labor markets are tight.
A Federal Reserve Board governor stokes inflation-phobia by remarking that growing wage pressures may signal a higher potential for inflation. Skittish investors sent interest rates soaring and stock prices tumbling late last week. Yet overall labor costs are restrained. Economic growth remains moderate by historic standards. And, with the benefit of hindsight, the rise in the stock market over the past several years appears more rational than many vocal skeptics and die-hard bears thought possible.