NIESR estimates growth picked up slightly in three months to April

Britain's economy probably picked up a bit of speed and grew by 0.4 percent in the three months to April, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said on Tuesday. "We expect the slight softening of GDP growth experienced in the first quarter of this year to be temporary and forecast the UK economy will expand by 2.5 percent for the year as a whole," it said in a statement. The annual growth forecast was in line with a forecast made by NIESR earlier this month.