Here comes UK GDP...

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George Osborne

REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne arrives at a European Union finance ministers meeting in Brussels November 7, 2014.

The UK's latest GDP figures are just about to roll out (at 9:30 a.m. London time, 4:30 a.m. New York time). It's the first estimate of economic growth in the first three months of the year.

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Maybe more importantly, it's some of the last big economic data before the general election on May 7.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) suggested that the UK would see 0.6% growth in Q1 (the same as in Q4 2014), but the consensus is more negative: Analysts generally expect a 0.5% expansion.

A figure like that could be a sign of a bit of a slowdown.

But not everyone's bearish. Barclays analysts are actually expecting an acceleration: "We expect GDP to accelerate to 0.8% in Q1 from 0.6% in Q4, with stronger household consumption supported by lower energy prices and a rebound in investment making up for a drop in capital spending in Q4 2014."

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We'll keep you updated here when the figures roll out.

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