Number are well down from a peak of 723,000 staff furloughed during the industry site lockdown last April but up from the low of 170,000 recorded at the end of November.

HMRC figures show that 91,100 firms continued to use the Government Covid Job Retention scheme from November to the end of February claiming a total of £824m.

Breakdowns suggest the firms still using furlough to support office workers tend to be at the smaller employer end with an industry average of 15% of staff receiving some kind of wage support.

Staff categorised and electrical, plumbing or installation received around 30% (£252m) of the total sum paid out.

Building completion and finishing staff ranked second highest receiving £189m of support for staff.