Wolseley underlined the extent of the decline in the US housing market as it warned on profits and said it would cut 3,000 US jobs by the end of January, on top of the 6,000 that it cut last year.

Chip Hornsby, chief executive of the world’s largest plumbing and heating supplies distributor, said: “Whether we go into recession or not, these are very challenging times. What we are looking for is when we will hit the bottom and how long we are going to stay there.”