JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (Reuters) - Top Federal Reserve officials on Thursday defended their view that the U.S. central bank should probably raise interest rates soon, saying that they still intended to keep the economy running fast enough to boost employment and inflation.

The Fed plans to "run the economy hot," San Francisco Fed President John Williams told about 100 members of the Fed Up coalition of union organizers and community activists ahead of a high-profile annual meeting of global central bankers.

"My objective is not to slow down the economy," said Esther George, president of the Kansas City Fed.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir and Jason Lange; Editing by Toni Reinhold)