A senior member of the US Federal Reserve on Friday said he voted against cutting interest rates this week because inflation was "too high" for comfort.

Kansas City Fed president Jeff Schmid was one of two people who dissented on Wednesday's vote, at which the US central bank backed a quarter percentage-point rate cut.

The other dissent was Fed governor Stephen Miran, who wanted a larger rate cut.

"The labor market is largely in balance, the economy shows continued momentum, and inflation remains too high," Schmid said in a statement.

"I view the stance of policy as only modestly restrictive," added Schmid, who has a vote on the Fed's rate-setting committee this year. "In this context, I judged it appropriate to maintain the policy rate at this week's meeting."

US consumer inflation d

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