Thursday 04 November 2021 11:19 am | Updated: Thursday 04 November 2021 4:21 pm

New data: Only 3 per cent of furloughed workers made redundant as scheme comes to an end

LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 27: Chancellor Of The Exchequer, Rishi Sunak stands with the Budget Box outside 11 Downing Street, ahead of presenting his Autumn Budget and Spending Review to Parliament, on October 27, 2021 in London, England. In his statement to the House of Commons, Mr Sunak will announce an end to the public sector pay freeze, and an increase to the national minimum wage. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Only 3 per cent of those workers still on furlough as the scheme came to an end were made permanently redundant, according to new official statistics.

The furlough scheme came to an end at the start of October, with 16 per cent of businesses still actively using it.

Two-thirds of those still on the scheme returned to work on their regular hours and another 16 per cent return to work on reduced hours.

Some six per cent have returned to more hours, perhaps reflecting the ongoing staff shortages across the economy.

It suggests that fears of a significant uptick in unemployment as the wage subsidy scheme comes to an end are overblown.

The UK unemployment rates sits at around 4.5 per cent, far lower than many economists had predicted at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The data will give added impetus to those arguing that the greater threat to the UK economy is a wage spiral and runaway inflation rather than unemployment.