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(Reuters) -Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic is open to an interest rate cut in September, he told the Financial Times in an interview published on Thursday, adding that the U.S. central bank can't "afford to be late" to ease monetary policy.

"I'm open to something happening in terms of us moving before the fourth quarter," Bostic told the newspaper.

Bostic's comments are a step ahead of his comments earlier this week where he said he wants to see "a little more data" before he's ready to support lowering interest rates.

U.S. consumer prices rose moderately in July and the annual increase in inflation slowed to below 3% for the first time in nearly 3-1/2 years, opening the door wider for the Federal Reserve to cut rates next month.

Financial markets broadly expect the Fed to cut rates at its Sept. 17-18 meeting, which would mark its first such move in this policy cycle.

Bostic also expressed caution over signs of cooling in the labour market, urging the central bank to be conscious of its mandate of maintaining full employment and saying that he is open to the idea of cutting rates by increments of half a point, not just a quarter point, if the labour market weakens faster than expected.