The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that economists believe the United States Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada may cut their policy rates faster than previously expected after fears of a potential U.S. recession sparked a wave of volatility in global financial markets. The Post's Jordan Gowling writes that Monday's market sell-off came in the wake of a U.S. jobs report Friday that showed U.S. unemployment had risen unexpectedly to 4.3 per cent in July. Monday's plunge prompted at least economist Jeremy Siegel to call on the Fed to make an emergency rate cut of 75 basis points, but most thought such a move would be premature and instead predicted the pace of interest rate cuts will accelerate. Capital Markets Economics vice-president Derek Holt says: "I think emergency rate cut talk is absurd to be honest and conditions would have to get vastly worse to merit an emergency cut. We're nowhere close and we may already be stabilizing. Plus, it's August, so we must reserve some judgment given that it's a time of year when market volumes and volatility can behave erratically." The soft U.S. economic data are something the Fed and the BOC will be watching closely as they make their next rate decisions.