Investors fear buoyant U.S. economy puts Fed into hawkish mode

Mar. 1– The U.S. economy does not appear to be close to a recession. Wall Street spent much of the past few months hoping that the Federal Reserve could achieve a "soft landing," or a scenario in which the U.S. ends up avoiding a severe recession. The unemployment rate fell to a 53- year low in January, while employers added more than half a million jobs to the economy,…