Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari on Tuesday said he believes the U.S. economy is on track for a soft landing in which inflation falls back to the Fed's 2% goal but the unemployment rate does not rise sharply.

"So far it's looking more favorable," Kashkari said in a town hall hosted by Minot State University, with the job market and the economy more resilient than he would have thought to the Fed's rate hikes so far. Still, he cautioned, if the economy stays too strong, the Fed may need to raise rates further to slow it, risking a harder landing. "It's too soon to declare victory," he added.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Leslie Adler)