Britain's economy recovered only modestly at the start of the year, affected by a sharp drop in construction and making it likely that the Bank of England will keep interest rates at record lows for some months.
Britain's economy expanded by 0.5% between January and March, in line with forecasts, after shrinking by the same amount in the final three months of 2010.
That means Britain's economy has barely grown since September and is lagging other leading economies.
The figure is weaker than either the Bank of England or Office for Budget Responsibility had pencilled in earlier this year and is likely to fuel criticism of the British government 's austerity measures, many of which have yet to kick in.
Construction fell by 4.7% from the previous quarter, its biggest drop since the first quarter of 2009 when Britain was deep in recession. Services and manufacturing both posted solid growth over the quarter, expanding by 0.9% and 1.1% respectively.
The Office for National Statistics said the rebound was little more than an arithmetic effect following the Q4 contraction and the underlying growth picture was broadly flat.
