Fed's Kashkari tells NYT it is 'way too soon' to cut rates

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari did not want to cut interest rates last month and sees no need to cut them any time soon given labor market resilience and inflation above the ?Fed's target, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

"I don't see any impetus ?to cut in January," Kashkari was quoted as saying in ?an interview with the newspaper, adding that it ?was "way too soon" ?for a rate cut, which could be possible later this year.?

Kashkari told the ?New York times he took some ?comfort that lawmakers from both political parties have expressed support for an independent Fed and for Fed ?Chair Jerome Powell.

The Trump administration ?has subpoenaed ?Powell over remarks he made to Congress last summer in a move the Fed Chair said was an attempt ?to intimidate the central bank into cutting rates.

The Fed is widely expected to leave the policy rate in its current 3.50%-3.75% range when it meets in two weeks, after cutting it by 75 basis points in 2025, including a quarter-of-a-percentage ?point ?reduction approved by a 9-3 vote at its December meeting.

Kashkari, who has a vote on the rate-setting panel ?this year, indicated he could support a rate cut later this year if the unemployment rate, at 4.4% in December, jumps, especially if inflation also eases.

But for now, he said, inflation that has run above the Fed's 2% target for years and could stay there for ?another two or three years is "very concerning," the newspaper reported.?

A government report on Tuesday showed consumer prices rose 2.7% last month from a year earlier.

(Reporting by ?Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru. Editing by Mark Potter and Alexander Smith)