Despite the lack of any action, continuing strong data on the housing market front against a backdrop of robust consumer spending, has led many analysts to argue that the next rate hike has merely been postponed. The one upside in all of this is that a significant proportion of the same analysts are also forecasting that the next rate hike may well be the last in the current cycle as inflation begins to slow in response to the recent fall in energy prices.
Alongside strong numbers in the services sector the committee will have been mindful of growing evidence that the recent industrial recovery may be flagging - not least the surprise data showing industrial output contracting in December. As ever any decision taken by the committee will have been part of a much larger economic balancing act.