The Bank of England has said that its Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously earlier this month to leave interest rates unchanged at four per cent in spite of growing evidence the economy is picking up.
The minutes of the meeting showed the nine-member MPC felt that survey evidence and data "pointed to somewhat stronger prospects for the British economy, and it was likely that this would imply a higher path for inflation than had been envisaged".
Separate figures showed, however, that the tightening of the labour market was not pushing up wage inflation.
The latest data on average earnings growth showed a slowdown to an annual rate of just 2.7 per cent in the three months to January - the same as August 1995 and the joint lowest since records began in 1991.
Financial markets took the rush of data in their stride, with the FTSE 100 index of leading shares stuck in negative territory with a 15-point loss on the day at 5,301. The pound was steady at $1.422 and 61.8 pence to the euro.