LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s government said 4.7 million jobs were furloughed as of Jan. 31 after the country entered a third national COVID lockdown, taking the cost of the programme to 53.8 billion pounds ($76.2 billion) since the start of the pandemic.
Britain’s Office for National Statistics said separately that businesses reported they had furloughed 20% of their staff as of early February, and only 72% of firms were currently trading.
Lending to businesses under three government-guaranteed schemes rose to 72.93 billion pounds as of Feb. 21 from 70.72 billion pounds a month earlier, Britain’s finance ministry said.
(Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by William Schomberg)
