It's time for the Fed to pause its war on inflation before it starts dragging down the US economy, top Moody's economist says

• The Fed should take a break from raising interest rates in May, a top Moody's economist told CNBC.
• Mark Zandi pointed to weaker US job growth, cooling inflation, and banking turmoil as reasons to pause.
• The Fed's efforts risk taking too much heat out of an already slowing economy, he said.

The Federal Reserve should pause its war on inflation next month before its interest-rate hikes start to really drag down the US economy, according to Moody's Analytics' chief economist.