"I think it surprised all of us," Kashkari said in an interview with broadcaster CNBC, referring to a blowout January jobs report in which more than half a million employment gains were reported by the U.S. government.

"Nobody should overreact to one report...but the underlying strength of the services sector of the economy is still very robust. And that's where I think a lot of us are focusing our attention... right now I'm still at around 5.4%. If I had to pick a number today, that would be where I was."

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrew Heavens)