Furlough still covering 12% of UK workforce as scheme is phased out

But ONS finds four in five businesses stating that their risk of closing down is low

One in eight members of the UK workforce, equating to more than three million people, were under furlough as the government's wage subsidy scheme began to be phased out, the latest official data shows.

The regular update on the economy from the Office for National Statistics found that 12% of workers were furloughed between late July and the middle of August, half the number two months earlier. Among the businesses trading 11% of the workforce was furloughed, rising to 71% for the 4% of firms that had not yet re-opened.