The National Institute of Economic and Social Research calculated that the economy grew by 0.2 percent in the three months to February compared to a contraction of 0.2 percent in the three months to January.

British gross domestic product fell by 0.6 percent in the last three months of 2010, official data showed, due to a mix of unusually cold weather in December and a more general slowdown.

“Most of the effects of the adverse weather in December should have been unwound in the most recent data. (But) the underlying quarterly growth rate of the economy remains below its trend and the output gap is likely to be widening,” NIESR said.

NIESR produces estimates of British GDP after the release of each month’s industrial output data, which it says are usually within 0.1-0.2 percentage points of the Office for National Statistics’ subsequent preliminary GDP estimate.

Concern that Britain’s economic recovery may have lost steam probably lay behind the reluctance of some Bank of England officials to raise interest rates earlier on Thursday, and the strength of first quarter GDP data is seen as key in determining whether the BoE raises rates in May.

NIESR’s former director Martin Weale, who now serves on the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee, voted for higher rates in January and February.