Inflation expectations among the public edged up only slightly in the three months to February despite a large spike upwards in the actual data in January.

The Bank of England's latest quarterly survey of the public's expectations for inflation showed a rise to 2.5% in February, up from 2.4% in the three months to November.

Most of the survey respondents actually believed inflation is currently 3.4%, which is up modestly from 3.2% in the November 2009 survey but still down from 3.8% in the August survey.

Consumer price inflation jumped from 1.1% in September 2009 to 3.5% in January and retail price inflation rising even more markedly to 3.7% in January.

Economist Howard Archer said it was notable that consumers expect inflation to be significantly lower in a year's time than it is now. This suggests that consumers believe that the current spike up in inflation will be largely temporary.

The number of those surveyed who replied the Bank of England is "doing its job in setting interest rates to control inflation" climbed to a two-year high of +28% in February from +24% in November 2009.

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