The Office for National Statistics found that the number of workers on payroll rose by a record 257,000 in November to a record 29.4 million.
The variant’s emergence over the past couple of weeks has created renewed uncertainty over the economic outlook, raising the specter of renewed job losses as firms respond to lower demand.
For much of the time the hugely expensive program was in place, the British government paid 80% of the salaries of employees unable to work because of lockdown measures.
Figures on Wednesday are set to show that consumer price inflation is running around double the Bank of England’s target of 2% — largely as a result of the sharp increase in energy costs during this year’s global economic recovery.
“Even though the fallout after the furlough scheme was smaller and shorter than the Bank of England had feared, concerns over the deteriorating COVID-19 situation will probably prevent it from raising interest rates this Thursday,” said Paul Dales, chief U.K.