Get ready to find out just how fragile the recovery is NEW YORK -- Data on how the U.S. and British economies fared in the first three months of the year due this week will likely highlight the tenuous nature of the recovery from recession in developed countries. A combination of rising gasoline prices and bad weather has prompted a number of big banks to cut their forecasts for U.S. economic growth in the first quarter. The preliminary snapshot of U.S. GDP growth, which a Reuters survey puts at 2.0%, will be released on April 28. In the UK, where weak consumer demand is expected to weigh on first-quarter output, the preliminary reading will be released on Wednesday. "The GDP figures will probably zoom in the focus more closely on fundamentals. A disappointment in the UK and U.S. may temper some of the buoyancy behind commodity and equity prices," said Lena Komileva, global head of G10 currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman in London. Many economists, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, believe commodity price rises will prove temporary, and will thus have no lasting impact on inflation or growth. Slower U.S. growth coupled with persistently high unemployment suggests the Fed is in no hurry to raise interest rates, even as it is almost certain to end a US$600 billion bond buying program in June as planned. Bernanke will get a chance to explain the Fed's thinking when he faces the media April 27 for his first post-meeting press conference.