Share of UK workers on furlough steady at 7% – ONS

British businesses reported that 7% of their staff – equivalent to around 1.6 to 2.0 million people – were partly or wholly on furlough in early August, unchanged from late July, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.

Britain’s COVID-19 furlough programme – which supported around a third of private-sector jobs at its peak in May 2020 – comes to an end on Sept. 30.

Of the 7% of workers on furlough, 4.3% had been furloughed on a part-time basis while 2.7% were furloughed full-time, the ONS said.