Number crunchers at the Office of National Statistics admitted that construction output figures released on Friday morning were wrong, and a revised them down to 0.5% several hours later.

This morning the official Government output figures showed the industry had rebounded from a steep fall in output in the winter and spring with lively 2.3% growth in the second quarter.

In fact, last month’s initial estimate for sluggish construction growth of 0.5% in the second quarter of 2011, which was plugged into the nation’s GDP figures, proved to be an accurate forecast for actual construction output.

A spokesman said: “The impact of the error is to overstate the published headline Q2/Q1 growth of 2.3%.”

He added: “ONS apologises for any inconvenience caused.”