Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist with Capital Economics, said inflation was unlikely to remain subdued. “It isn’t a huge surprise that the recent virus-induced weakness in activity and employment appears to be weighing on inflation, but with virus cases now falling sharply and states starting to ease restrictions on activity, that weakness is unlikely to last for long. In any case, as the big falls in prices last year drop out of the annual comparison inflation will pick up sharply in March and April” and will be ”much stronger over the rest of this year than most others currently expect.”