The hopes that the economy would improve significantly on the meagre 0.5% growth in the first three months of the year look like being dashed if the National Institute of Economic and Social Research estimates are correct.
But in spite of the doom and gloom the figure is an improvement on the 0.1% growth the NIESR detected in the three months to April.
The report comes on the back of disappointing manufacturing data today.
Industrial production saw its biggest monthly drop for two and a half years, with official figures revealing a 1.5% fall between March and April.
The Office for National Statistics said the royal wedding bank holiday hit production, and the other holidays in April, combined with the impact the Japanese earthquake had on supply chains, caused an 'unusual month'.
The NIESR research suggests Britain's output is still almost 4% below its peak in early 2008 before a deep recession that ended late in 2009.
'Economic growth in the UK remains subdued,' NIESR said. 'We do not expect the level of output to return to the pre-recession peak until early 2013.'
Nida Ali, economic advisor to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club, said today's manufacturing figures 'pose a genuine cause for concern ' and 'solidify fears that the soft patch in the UK's economic recovery is becoming more prolonged than previously thought'.
'The PMI surveys for manufacturing in the past couple of months suggested that recovery in the sector is faltering and today's results provide hard evidence of that.
'At this rate, growth in the second quarter may come in even weaker than Q1. The sustainability of the recovery is more questionable than ever and, in this uncertain economic climate, it is difficult to envisage an increase in interest rates anytime soon.'
Other analysts were less pessimistic, saying the decline in UK's industrial output in April was likely to be a one-off and that activity could bounce back in May.
'We'll need to see at least the May data to make any sense of the figures, and even then some of the earthquake effect is likely to be lingering in the data,' David Tinsley, UK economist at National Australia Bank.
Meanwhile, household inflation expectations have fallen for the first time in more than two years, a survey revealed today.
Members of the public expect the rate of inflation to fall to an average of 3.9% over the coming year, down from expectations of 4% in the February Bank of England survey.
This is the first time expectations for year-ahead inflation have dropped since February 2009. The result will further dampen the case for the Bank to lift rates.
Particularly as the news this week from other sectors of the economy has not been encouraging.
High street spending fell by 2.2% in May compared with a year ago as shoppers made cutbacks, and research suggested that financial distress among consumers has reached a record high.
Struggling stores have brought forward summer sales in a desperate bid to turn around a slump in takings. Debenhams cut prices on two million products by up to 50%, while House of Fraser responded to the news with its own half-price sale.
Gap, Boots, Topman and the major supermarkets are running their own price cuts either in high street outlets or through their websites.
Consumers are cutting back on high street spending amid a squeeze on family budgets caused by big increases in essential household expenses, such as food, energy, petrol and insurance.
Job fears, low or non-existent pay increases and a faltering property market are also having a knock-on effect.
Sterling was little affected by today's data against the dollar or euro, as while the figures were worse than initial expectations, traders had recently expected an even worse decline.
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 figures.
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