1.6 million people remained on furlough at 31 July 2021, new HMRC statistics show

With the CJRS due to close at the end of the month, new figures also show fifth consecutive monthly decrease, with number on furlough down by 340,000 compared to previous month

1.6 million people remained on furlough under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) at 31 July 2021, according to new HMRC statistics.

With the CJRS due to close at the end of September 2021, the new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme statistics: 9 September 2021 provide an analysis of claims for periods up to 31 July 2021, including claims submitted to HMRC by 16 August 2021.

HMRC's key findings include that -

• since the start of the scheme a cumulative total of 11.6 million jobs have been supported by the CJRS at various times;
• provisional figures show that the number of employments on furlough was 1.6 million at 31 July 2021, a decrease of 340,000 from 30 June when the number of employments on furlough was 1.9 million;
• numbers on furlough last peaked at 5.1 million in January 2021 and have fallen since;
• at 31 July 2021, provisional figures show that 25 per cent of employers had staff on furlough, down from 28% at 30 June 2021, and 5 per cent of employments eligible for furlough were on furlough, down from 7 per cent at 30 June 2021; and
• while the number of employments on furlough decreased across February to July 2021 for all age bands, the largest reductions in the number of employments on furlough in June and July were for younger employees in the under 18, 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 age bands.

Commenting on the figures, Chancellor Rish Sunak said today -

'It’s fantastic to see furlough levels at their lowest since the start of the pandemic with young people in particular getting back to work and kickstarting their careers as the UK gets back to business.

With furlough naturally unwinding and coming to a close at the end of the month we are doubling down on our Plan for Jobs - focusing our support on giving people the skills and opportunities they need to succeed in the jobs of tomorrow.'

NB - HMRC has also published Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) statistics: September 2021 which show that £27.1 billion has been paid in SEISS grants in total (up to 15 August 2021), and that across the five grants 2.9 million individuals have received a grant and 9.9 million total grants have been claimed.

HMRC's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme statistics: 9 September 2021 are available from gov.uk