Fed's Raskin disappointed by slow drop in U.S. jobless

(Reuters) - A top Federal Reserve official said on Friday the U.S. unemployment rate has fallen at a "disappointingly slow pace," and argued that most of the problem is cyclical and therefore temporary.

Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Raskin, speaking at the National Conference on Citizenship in Philadelphia, said however that a smaller part of the problem is due to more permanent "structural" factors such as differences between the skills workers have and the skills employers want.

On Thursday, the U.S. central bank launched an aggressive asset buying plan to help ratchet down the jobless rate, which stood at 8.1 percent last month. Raskin endorsed the monetary easing plan.

(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by James Dalgleish)