Harker, a voting member of the rate-setting Federal

 Harker, a voting member of the rate-setting Federal 

Open Market Committee this year, said he would still have opted for a 25-basis-point hike last week even if he had seen the jobs report ahead of the policy decision.

Other central bank officials have defended the size of the recent rate rise, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted in an appearance on Tuesday that if jobs and inflation data stay hot "it may well be the case we have to do more" with rate rises over time.

Inflation by the Fed's preferred measure was running at more than double the 2% target in December.DOOR OPENINGIn the interview, Harker said he sees the Fed's policy rate going up to somewhere above 5% and holding there for a while.