After a few bruising months, construction has jumped into pole position as the best performing sector of the economy.

Monthly construction output grew by 0.4% in volume terms in November after sliding 0.3% in the prior month.

The main contributors to the monthly increase were private commercial new work and non-housing repair and maintenance, which grew by 3.1% and 1.1%, respectively.

These sectors drove rises in both new work (0.3%) and repair and maintenance (0.5%).

But trend figures show construction growth still remains fragile only increasing by 0.2% in the three months to November. This came solely from an increase in new work (0.4%), as repair and maintenance flatlined over the period.

Gareth Belsham, director of Bloom Building Consultancy said: ““Output across the industry rose by 0.4% in November, four times faster than the UK economy as a whole.

“But for all the surface sheen, the official data is far from a clean bill of health. Fortunes within the construction industry are diverging rapidly.

“Private sector house builders built 1.2% less in November than they did in October, and new home construction as a whole is stuck in reverse.

“On the other side of the coin, commercial projects are booming on the back of rising demand for office space as employers seek to get more of their staff back into offices full time.

“New commercial sector construction surged by 3.1% on the month, and on the front line we’re seeing many commercial property developers pressing the button on previously paused investment plans, as well as an increase in the number of commercial property landlords investing in repair and refurbishment to generate extra value from their existing buildings.”