May 6 (Reuters) - The economic outlook is brightening but more improvements are needed before the Federal Reserve will start to scale back monetary support, Cleveland Fed Bank President Loretta Mester said on Thursday. The U.S. economy is still short more than 8 million jobs from before the pandemic and inflation is expected to trend down after a temporary increase over the next few months, Mester said during a virtual conversation. Even after the Fed begins to taper its asset purchases from $120 billion a month, it will still be purchasing bonds and policy will be accommodative for a while, she said. Reporting by Jonnelle Marte Editing by Chris Reese Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.