Aug 27 (Reuters) - Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester said on Friday that it is time to start reducing the central bank’s asset purchases, but more improvement is needed in the labor market before officials would consider raising interest rates. “There is still room to go on the employment side in terms of those criteria that we put out for the first liftoff of the funds rate,” Mester said during an interview with Bloomberg TV. “Let’s see how the economy performs.” (Reporting by Jonnelle Marte Editing by Chris Reese) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.